Actually not a fan of the blue spruce. They make terrible Xmas trees. The needles seem to start dropping off before you can get the trees into the stand.
The tree death that really bothered us was a crimson king maple that we had to have cut down. It went to sleep in the fall and never woke up in the spring.
Hi maxman,
I'm sure you were very disappointed to lose those blue spruces. They are beautiful trees.
We have lost several trees over the 36 years that we have been in the house. We had a pair of deciduous trees (can't remember exactly what they were) get torn off right at the ground in a wind storm. We were watching the storm from our patio door when the tree in the backyard did a 360+ degree spin and flopped over. We decided to see how the other tree that was in the front yard was doing. We got to the living room window just in time to see it do exactly the same thing.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Planted a bunch of 3 foot tall blue spruce trees when when moved here 40 years ago. Got pretty tall, but every one of them died. Started drying out from the bottom, and whatever was killing them went up from there.
Mr. B., check CTV.ca news on line. They just posted an update. About a third of the town is gone and the fires are still burning although recent rain has helped.
CN Charlie
Brent, any updates on the fires around Jasper? Our news reporting is pretty useless. I had to Google Jasper to get anything. It looked like old news.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
CNCharlie We planted a spruce that was about 8' to start but has taken 25 years to hit 25'.
Alton Junction
Dave,
We have a blue spruce in our front yard that is more green than blue. Anyway it is about 40' tall and still growing. We planted a spruce that was about 8' to start but has taken 25 years to hit 25'. I expect trees grow faster where you are as your climate is a lot milder.
Anyone else watch the Olympics opening ceremony? It was unusual but entertaining even with the rain. My wife is very partial to Paris. She spent a summer studying Frech Lit. at the Sorbonne just before we met.
Hi John,
Sorry about the loss of your red oak. Have you thought about selling the wood to a lumber mill? If the trunk was a fair size, a local mill might be interested. Same thing with the firewood business.
We are in the same boat. We have beautiful huge Bosnian pine in our front yard which has become badly diseased. We live opposite 'T' intersection and the pine blocks the headlights from shining straight into our living room. We are going to miss it.
We are replacing it with a Blue Spruce 'fagiagatia' (sp?) which is a fast growing tree but is only supposed to grow to 20 ft. tall. We shall see.
Good Afternoon,
Sure has been quiet in the Diner.
Chris, glad you had a good trip and missed the fires. Yes, Kamloops can get very hot in the summer.
Dave, glad you are feeling better. Basically cutting out sugar in all foods can certainly result in weight loss, at least that is our experience. We did it a couple of years ago and dropped a quite a few pounds. Our doc was pleased.
John, sorry you lost a major tree in your yard.
Good morning diners! Flo, just a coffee to go, lots to do today.
Brent, can't stay long but you mentioned my trip on the Rocky Mountaineer. It was great. I'll come back over the weekend and expand. No fires spotted, but haze all week. And hot as hell. Kamloops 101 at 7:00 pm and Banff in 90's. Got home to Boston last Saturday evening, but with one suitcase missing. Another story to tell later. Got to run, I'll catch up with everyone.
Regards, Chris
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good morning, diners. Brunhilda, I'll have bacon, eggs, and coffee please.
Sad day today -- an arborist will be here to cut down a large red oak tree right to the south of our house. It was damaged in a storm, and while it is not an immediate problem, eventually it will be a danger to our house. It provides so much great shade for our house on these hot days -- we are sad to see it go. I'm considering planting a sugar maple there.
The forest fires -- as a kid in the late 1950s, my family drove through Colorado after a huge fire on the mountainsides. Three years ago, we came through that area and those same mountainsides are covered with a vibrant forest again. Hopefully the Canadian fires can be put out soon.
TGIF everyone! Hope everyone has a healthy day.
James E. Pepper & Co. by Joseph Schneid, on Flickr
York1 John
Good morning
CNCharlie TF, I was ready to jump in the car when I read about those BLTs but not sure I could wait the 8 or 9 hours it would take me to bang on your door.
TF, I was ready to jump in the car when I read about those BLTs but not sure I could wait the 8 or 9 hours it would take me to bang on your door.
You would always be more then Welcome Charlie. Those things were mighty tasty last night, slept like a rock.
No one in the 60s ever thought we would have the communication devices from Star Trek one day. Now someone just needs to come out with the transporter, so you can beam over...
Well, we started coffee at 5:30 this morning and getting ready to hit the road
Have a great weekend gentlemen
PS
Water Level Route TF, if I were closer, I might have been following Charlie to your door. Sounds tasty!
TF, if I were closer, I might have been following Charlie to your door. Sounds tasty!
Come on over! You are just as Welcome here for a BLT as well Mike. One of those things would even be good for breakfast
TF
Howdy Diners. Brunhilda load me up with the breakfast from David and Dawn please. Thanks David! By the way, great news about your son. Praying you get the all clear soon as well and that Dawn has continued good days.
Dave, good luck with the new diet. Hopefully there are plenty of new favorite dishes to enjoy.
For our friends north of the border, I pray the fires are brought under control soon. Such a beautiful country full of such wonderful people.
TGIF! Hopefully the day at work flies by. My oldest turns 20 tomorrow, so Saturday will be a family lunch as my youngest has another obligation in the evening, then a fun dinner of some sort and extended family coming over for cake & ice cream in the evening. A whole day extravaganza. Hopefully I can get some train time in between events.
Everyone try to have a good day.
Mike
Hi David,
That is fantastic news for your son, and for you and Dawn too! I hope he lives a long and happy life.
I'm also rooting for you and Dawn. Your positive attitude certainly shines through.
Thanks for the encouragement. Dianne and I both have very positive outlooks on life. We have been through a lot together including the death of our eldest son at age 18. We have been together for 48 years.
Good morning Diners. A sunny day.
Tea and toast please, Janie.
Breakfast for everyone is on Dawn and I.
In 1998 our son had cancer. The battle was long and hard, but victory succeeded. Recently we thought it had returned. Last night we received new information our son had the 'All Clear'.
Dave & Dianne Remain positive. We send thoughts and prayers for a 'normal' life.
Our thoughts and prayers to those with challenges in Canada.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Hi CN Charlie,
Thanks for asking how I am doing.
I'm not quite feeling 100% but pretty close. Cirrhosis causes fatigue so I'm suffering from that a bit.
My diet has become somewhat restricted. In addition to having to avoid salt and sugar, I can't have any raw vegetables or anything else that is hard because they may cause the distended blood vessels in my stomach to bleed, possibly severely. I'm also limited in how much red meat I can consume because digesting it puts a strain on my liver.
The good news is that the diet is very healthy. I need to lose some more weight so hopefully that will happen.
Good Evening,
It really makes me sad to see all of destruction from fires in B.C. and of course Jasper. I have never been there unless you count passing through on the train in 1960 but I have travelled in B.C. quite a bit when I was working as Macleods( later True Value) had stores in many rural towns.
We have escaped the smoke here so far. Manitoba has not had a bad fire season this year. We have had more precip so far this year than all of last year with most of it since May 1. There was very little snow this past winter.
David, hope your hospital 'visit' goes well. Glad to hear Dawn is feeling better.
Dave, how are you doing?
I too would like to hear from Lion. I have never tasted Wildebeest but lions are very partial to it. They also like Springbok which I have tried but don't share their taste for it. Give me a nice slice of Prime Rib.
Well, getting late so time to turn out the light.
Evening
Judy's making late night BLT's, with that thick cut Farm Bacon from Eden Prairie
We've had the high in the sky haze in Minnesota for weeks Brent. Condolences for forest fires too abundant in your beautiful Country. Canada is Loved by me, as it was by my Grandfather, born and raised there.
Breaks my heart just to hear about it.
hon30critterThe wildfire situation is just horrible.
I must admit I have been quite choked up about the situation yesterday and today. Having seen a good chunk of the world the Jasper/ Banff corridor is my favourite place on Earth. I have spent a lot of time up there hiking/backpacking and/or just taking in the majesty of the place. I am heartbroken.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Hi Brent,
The wildfire situation is just horrible. The Jasper fire was moving at an incredible 5 km in 30 minutes. That's just plain scary!
Dianne and I have donated to the Red Cross to help with the recovery but what we can give seems like a pittance when compared to the scope of the disaster.
I'm not sure I want to say "Cheers!!". Given the subject matter, somehow it doesn't seem appropriate to end the post that way.
TF Good to see you are still on board.
Brent I hope the fires are under control.
Thoughts & Peace to All who Require
Good morning from fireville. This is Jasper Alberta, where a massive fire has reached the town. While the fire services threw everything possible at the fire it was travelling at 200 metres a minute and they had to just let it go.
Chris (Tophias) said he was here for a trip on the Rocky Mountaineer, apparently, all rail on the CN mainline has been halted for several days due to the fire and the Southern CP line through the Rockies has also been greatly affected. Tourist trains take a back seat to freight ops so I hope his trip wasn't ruined.
In BC 425 fires are burning/85% lightning caused. Living on the coast with the prevailing wind from the West we usually don't get smoke unless it comes up from the Western States.
I remember working with my Uncle back in the 70s getting supplies to the fire crews up in the mountains on the rugged forest service/logging roads. Those were hard long hard days.
Back to more fence building/repairing today. One thing I notice is even though I am in excellent shape I sure don't get as much done in a day at 67 as I did in my younger years. Let's just say I could not make a living building fences.
Let's hope 6015 in Jasper survives.
All the best to all.
The Bear A promise by Bear, on Flickr
A promise by Bear, on Flickr
Lost another sip of coffee spraying over the coffee table again this morning
Thanks Bear, John, Mister B, Mike, for the kind words. Who could skip out on such a fine bunch of Gents as this here? Not me!!!
The site still being glitchy enough many times, but ever since my last phone updates, it seemed to get even worse. I'm starting to wonder if the new phone, and software updates, conflict with the new forum software? But certainly don't know much, if anything, about that sort of thing.
We're heading up to Wisconsin early tomorrow morning to visit Family, and installing heavy duty sanded cleats on Judy's Mom's wood stairs, to keep her safe in the Winter. We certainly don't want her to slip and fall again I'll try to check in when we get back.
I'm hopeful our Dave's get to feeling better soon. Wishing everybody good health
Photo courtesy of Relevant
Water Level Route NorthBrit they were the only party that was interested in me Such a seemingly small gesture can have a large impact. Far too few people or organizations realize that.
NorthBrit they were the only party that was interested in me
Such a seemingly small gesture can have a large impact. Far too few people or organizations realize that.
Agreed, Mike. Though not a member, as I mentioned, I have letters from (past) Members of Parliament of the Conservative Party I have corresponded with.
Good Morning Diners. Zoe, coffee and a slice of blueberry pie. Who says you can't have dessert for breakfast?
Rough day at work yesterday. Nothing like kicking the day off with a four hour long meeting. And it went downhill from there. Today, however, is a new day!
Bear, love the toon!
TF, do not leave. I, like John (York1), haven't had issues lately, other than sometimes having to be patient while the page loads oh so slowly. Perhaps clearing your browsers history (cache and cookies specifically) would help.
York1Even though the nearest Canadian fires are over 800 miles away, we are having filtered sunlight from the smoke.
MisterBeasleyWe've lost too many friends over the past few years.
BATMANThere are 434 fires burning in BC
ATSFGuyDon't worry. I'm not going anywhere.
gmpullmanAt first glance I thought the bright orange reefer was 'Photoshopped' into the picture but upon further snooping it simply looks like a brand new car
up831In John's most recent post, there is something a little different in the reefer picture. I'm certain that I'm not the only one who's noticed this, but look at high up the car number is.
NorthBritthey were the only party that was interested in me
Reading John's non-pollitical comment reminded me of when just sfter my 18th birthday.
All my family, grandparents, uncles and aunts were staunch Labour voters. I received a letter from the Conservative Party to join them. I did not, but they were the only party that was interested in me. Yes they still get my vote.
Good evening from the smoky Great Plains. Even though the nearest Canadian fires are over 800 miles away, we are having filtered sunlight from the smoke.
TF, don't give up! Let's hold out and give the new owners a chance.
Actually, today was the first day in a long time I had trouble getting into the forum. It has worked very well for several weeks for me.
A non-political political comment: With all the political news lately, it reminded me of growing up in a mixed household. My father was a liberal. My mother, on the other side, was a strict conservative. I remember them joking every election day when they came home from voting that they had canceled each other's votes out.
Hope everyone's doing well.
Loading oranges into a refrigerator car at a co-op orange packing plant, Redlands, Calif. Santa Fe R.R. trip (LOC) by The Library of Congress, on Flickr