News from the North

So here we are, just a week and a few days from our move. Actually we're looking at moving the date back a day or two so we may ask for the keys and take possession on July 27. Which would be nice as that starts a week off work for me. :) And it's really odd. By taking 2 days off, I get a week. It has to do with my schedule and that that is my short week. I work Sunday night, then have Mon/Tues as normal days off. I took Wednesday/Thursday off and would normally have Fri/Sat/Sunday. So two days off = 1 week. :)

Yesterday we went to the Riders game. Now you have to understand something. CFL (Canadian Football League) up here is almost as popular and well attended in most cities as hockey. But in Saskatchewan....it's something of a legend. Green Bay fans would be considered almost tame in comparison. And Sane. Their colors are green, white and black and for some odd reason....watermelons play into what people wear. Yes, some crazy fans carve watermelon helmets to wear to the games. The game yesterday was a sell out. 31,000 people. (OK, it wasn't that round a number but it was the part that caught my attention.) Looking at the stands, I'd say 90-95% in green or white. The noise could get pretty loud sometimes. But it was fun. We actually got season tickets so this was the 2nd home game. And the Riders lost.

Oddly, the full name of the team is the SK Rough Riders. And I had to wonder....why Rough Riders? The only thing I knew of Rough Riders were Teddy Roosevelt and his Riders charging San Juan hill. But this is Canada....why call a team that? So I looked up the team history. Come to find out, the club started as a rugby club in the late 1800s. And was started by men...returning from going abroad serving with TR in Cuba. Amazing.

But then again...maybe not so much. I'm find that the US is truly a very....isolationist country. Unless you are a 1st or 2nd generation immigrant, chances are slim that you know anyone living abroad (except maybe for a missionary or two). But just people living in other countries? When they are US citizens? Just doesn't happen much. But here! I'm amazed at how many people talk about friends or family who are living in the US or Australia or England or.....wherever. And most of our college student part timers plan on doing at least a semester abroad. And I'm still surprised at how many people here have friends/family in MN. I've met people with an Aunt in St. Louis Park, cousins in Chaska, and a brother in White Bear Lake. Even someone who lived in Plymouth for a while. Hey....so did I. Where about? Wow that's spooky we lived in apartment buildings on the same street. Of course that street was lined with apartments and probably has 5,000 people living on it, but still....these connections make it feel like a very small world.

The farmers market here....is off to a slow, slow start. But then again...we had the last hard frost only a month and a half ago. (June 5) So I guess it will be a few more weeks before we really start seeing much fresh produce in the market. Right now, we have a lot of baked goods, a woman who makes wonderful (and unusual) jams/jellies. (so far I've tried her chokecherry jelly, blueberry jam and Saskatoon berry jam.) All of them....are delicious! And preservative free. Most have 3 ingredients. Fruit (or fruit juice), sugar, and pectin. Simple and tasty. One lady specializes in dog treats. Needless to say....I have a puppy who likes it when I go. And several people there sell honey. I doubt I'll buy honey in a store again. Theirs is much cheaper and again...preservative free. :)

Speaking of food....I've found I can eat margarine here without having the arthritis flare up. As well as eat Popsicles and eat out. What I've found is....Corn is not King here! Corn based products/oil is just not used. Probably because so little corn is grown. What is grown here in field after field is.....Canola. And soybeans. And sugar beats. :) So what kinds of oil is used in cooking and making margarine? Canola and Soya oils. And what sweetener is used? Sugar! Why would anyone allow corn syrup in anything? is the reaction I get when I explain why I look on labels to see if corn syrup is in something. It just doesn't happen much. There are some exceptions (like syrup...but the main ingredient is still regular sugar instead of corn syrup!) One of the odd things is....Sugar is called glucose on labels and corn syrup is fructose-glucose. So I have to look at labels twice. So it's nice. My arthritis is only effected by weather, and since we get only a few days a month of rain....ah...the hands feel normal. Better than normal. I am almost completely pain free. It's wonderful.

OK...last thing on this post Canola is a very recent word (dates from the 1970s) but the plant has been around a lot longer. The old traditional name for it was Rapeseed. But market people didn't think that would sell, so they came up with the name Canola (Can=Canada, ola=oil) At my work, we have a cookbook that tells stories of various places in SK. And oddly enough, one of the stories is about a community whose post master wanted to make a stamp cancellation stamp of a motto he thought up for the town. Their two big products? Rapeseed and honey. So he wanted to make that the town slogan--the land of rapeseed and honey. The Postal Service said no, but the town loved it and made a huge sign of this slogan at the edge of town. A few years later the town started having problems with an insect infestation that can destroy crops. The bugs are Bertha worms and everyone in town was told how to spot, kill and report the bugs so the crops wouldn't be lost. They had Bertha control lectures, lessons in school, everything they could think of. Soon after the author was visiting this town and saw they had changed their sign to read "Land of Rapeseed and Bertha Control"