It looks like old man winter gave us a little bit of real winter.

Some places came up with almost minus 40 but not for long. The coldest was minus 34.5 and that was cold enough for me. Our lakes are now all frozen over and by all reports very good ice. Folks have their ling lines out and report some nice catches. Deep fried ling cod is top of the line for being very tasty.

One morning here at the Tweedsmuir House my gauge registered 32.5 below but it did warm up a bit during the day.

Good entertainment

The coffee house on Feb. 8 at the Francois Lake Hall was a great crowd pleaser with some top of the line entertainers. There was music and singing to please every one. The cold weather sure didn鈥檛 stop folks from turning out as it was a packed hall. We are very fortunate to have such a variety of musical talent in our Lakes District and

I am including 亚洲天堂 Lake in this too.

Folks are already asking when is the next coffee house coming off. They are getting so popular with every one. A big thanks to my family for bringing me out for such a great evening.

Horses and music

One of the greatest things I miss by getting old is my horse and my music. I started guitar and fiddle when I was 15 in Saskatchewan. One of my songs that made a hit 鈥楾he blackboard of my heart鈥� I sang it with a lovely girl Ruth Hargrave. She wanted to come to Francois Lake and keep on singing but it fell through.

I also sang with Bernice Boylan, she made big time with guitar and fiddle. Brother Peter was very good on the accordion and had some records cut. We also played and sang together.

Now my niece Renay with her singers, the ever popular June Bugs carry on my love of music. My one hope is that our future generation will carry on the love of music as I have. Music opens to many doors of a wonderful future as it brings love from the heart.

Snow

Our snow fall was a month late as it caught many country homes with frozen water lines. It鈥檚 no fun when your water line freezes up.

With light snow fall the frost goes down and you are in trouble with frozen lines. During our first years living at the Landing water was a problem. In the summer months we had a pump at the lake and during the winter months we hauled water.

One thing about that it never froze up. We used a 50 gallon barrel on the stone boat with the horse. We also had a big barrel in the back kitchen so we could transfer the water by pail from the outside to inside. What a job this was. Sure was a great thing when we got power and water pumps and water lines.

Block heaters

As I look back to the old times and trying to keep a vehicle running in the winter. If you were fortunate enough to have a heated garage you were in luck. But having your vehicle parked outside it was a nightmare and big time.

Then some smart guy invented the block heater. It was cheap to buy and cheap to install and a godsend to the vehicle owner. Now it鈥檚 taken for granted to have a block heater installed. It now gives both the owner and the vehicle longer life. Before the block heater came along to start a car or truck was a job and a half.

Two friends of mine had their vehicle catch fire and burnt up. They were using a blow torch in a stove pipe and were not aware there was a gas connection leaking. These were vehicles in good shape and a case like this no insurance.

I almost lost my Dodge taxi and it was almost new. I had left it out over night and it dropped cold and so I got a friend to hit the starter while I took off the breather and poured in some gas and it backfired and in a second the whole motor was on fire but there was snow next to the car and we threw snow over the blazing motor and put it out. I sure was very fortunate, that was a good lesson.

I hope they will have a place in heaven for they guy who came up with the block heater, he deserves it. Before automatic transmissions came in if a car would not start you could tow it, this worked well.

We had a little bay saddle horse and if the car would not start I would put on her harness and a single tree and she would give the car a good pull and as soon as the motor started she would stop. I bet she was glad when the block heater came along.

This is an Evesham story but a good one

In the early 30s most everyone had a Model T Ford. They were hard to start so you had to jack up a hind wheel to start it and leave it running until it warmed up. Some friends ours left theirs up on the jack with the hind wheel turning while they got ready or church. The car was gone as it had fallen off the jack. They saw the back end of the Model T going across their wheat field. Their son had a saddle horse handy and caught the car before any damage was done. This was the joke of the district for a while.

Here is a little story

A mother calls in a 911 very worried asking the dispatcher if she should take her kid to the doctor or an emergency room her kid had eaten a bunch of ants. The dispatcher tells her to give the kid some Benadryl and he will be fine. The mother says 鈥淚 just gave him some ant killer.鈥� Dispatcher says 鈥淭ake him to emergency right away.鈥�

Life is tough, it鈥檚 even tougher if you鈥檙e stupid. Someone had to remind me so I鈥檓 reminding you too. Don鈥檛 laugh it is all true.

Advice from an old cowboy

Always drink upstream from the herd and never slap a man who鈥檚 chewing tobacco and never kick a cow chip on a hot day.

Always remember God loves you and so do I.