And So It Goes

   It's hard to believe, but we've come to the end of April, and the start of May. All in all, April wasn't too bad, weather wise. Yes, we had some snow, but generally it's been quite mild. Mild enough in fact for trees to start budding, and even some of my wife's crocuses have poked through the dirt.
   It's also looking like an early start to her garden this year. Normally, she doesn't plant until the Victoria Day weekend, but I'm suspecting she'll be early this year. As for the yard, well, we haven't started on that yet and the grass doesn't need cutting right now. In the next week or so, it will. Especially if we get some much needed rain to wash the remains of winter away.
   I'm also taking May 1st off, so I can travel to Calgary for a service for one of my oldest friends who died a week ago (see blog entry below). It's a 12 hundred mile, 20 hour round trip, and I'm gladly doing it. I'm sure he'd do the same for me.
   I'll be back Monday, but in the meantime:

TTFN

I Lost A Friend This Weekend

   He was a fishing and drinking buddy. He was the best man at our wedding, and godfather to one of our kids. He was a really good foosball player, who I did manage to beat a few times. He was also quite an accomplished radio-control aircraft pilot. He was just 55 when he died Friday in Calgary. We went back damn near 37 years. And yet, there were quite a few years each of us was wondering what happened to the other.
   You know what I mean. Your buddy gets married, then moves out of town. Then you get married and move out of town. In the days before things like facebook and even email, keeping in touch wasn't easy. I don't even think we exchanged addresses for snail mail. It had to have been almost a dozen years since we'd spoken when he finally tracked me down in Thunder Bay, Ontario. And while we did keep in touch, sort of, in the intervening years, we once again drifted out of contact even though I did drop in at his house once when I visited my mum in Calgary.
   A few more years passed before I heard from him again when he dropped me an email saying he'd had some pretty massive health problems some 18 months ago. Even though I should have probably done so long before I did, I finally called him again. I was shocked to hear him. He sounded 25 or 30 years older than he was, and I realized just how serious his health problems were.
   I got the call from his widow yesterday, telling me he'd passed after yet more health problems. She also told me I'm one of the very few people from the "old gang" still alive and kicking. I told her I'd keep their number, and give her a call. I did not think to ask about his funeral, or if and where tributes can be made. I'll be doing that tonight.
   It's strange to see just how much you miss someone, even when you haven't been in touch for years. I'm certainly going to miss my old buddy "Crash", and I also plan on getting in touch with another very old friend. One who I've known 52 years now, who I haven't spoken with for a while either.
   R.I.P Mike: You shall be missed.

TTFN

Not A Fan Of This Sort Of Behaviour

   Management of the Calgary Flames hockey club are telling fans to quit harassing women along the so-called "Red Mile" in Calgary. It seems some low-lifes are using offensive, often violent and sexually aggressive language toward women during playoff games, and the team wants it stopped.
   To the teams credit, they stepped up to say “Our view is that if you’re a true Flames fan, you are not engaging in this kind of behaviour". The team goes on to say  “We want to make it clear, do not do this stuff, ever. And for goodness sake don’t do it in our name because that’s not our culture, that’s not our organization.” Flames president Brian Burke: “This kind of behaviour has nothing to do with us, nothing to do with hockey. This is no way to treat women. I ask that everyone keeps their red on, and treat each other with respect.”
   I agree entirely with the stand the team has taken. And I'll go one step further by suggesting police lay charges against those who take part in such activity. It's a sad state of affairs when women continue to be harassed in this day and age, especially by supporters of a pro sports team.
   I grew up in Calgary. This is not the city I remember. True, women have been and unfortunately continue to be targeted for this type of behaviour. As a supporter of the Flames, I am pleased the organization has taken the steps they have.

TTFN

Marking A Sombre 100th

   Today marks the 100th anniversary of the 2nd battle of Ypres in the First World War. It also marked the first time poison chlorine gas was used in modern warfare. It was released by the Germans, and drifted over French and Canadian positions. While a French position (made up of colonial Algerians) crumbled, the Canadian line wavered, but held firm.
   The cost: 6 thousand Canadian casualties, including 2 thousand dead. When the battle finally ended in May, 10 Victoria Crosses had been awarded, including 4 to Canadians.
   It was not the last time poisoned gas was used. Both sides made use of gas canisters and shells to devastating effect right through the war. First with chlorine, then mustard gas. During the April, 1915 gas attack, Canadian soldiers were advised to urinate into their handkerchiefs, then hold it to their nose and mouth. Apparently, that counter-acted the chlorine gas.
   Later in the war, gas shells were fired by artillery on both side. Many of those unexploded shells still turn up on the battlefields of France and Belgium to this day, and will likely be found for many years to come.

TTFN.

The Great "Sauce-Off"....UPDATE

   It's that time of year again. The annual Ducks Unlimited banquet is coming up next month. And with it, a bar-b-cue sauce competition. Last year, Tonya Cherry's "sweet hickory heat" beat my "garlic-ranch" effort, and represented GX94 in the competition against our sister station Fox FM and CTV, which CTV won.
   This year, I've got the unenviable task of trying to beat Danny Ismond, who won the inaugural competition a few years back. And, like we did last year, there's going to be an in-house sauce-off to determine which sauce will go on to the competition proper.
   I've got a couple of ideas on the burner, and I know Danny's going to come up with a killer sauce, so even though it's a friendly competition, I'm going to have to be on top of my game.
   There are a couple of changes to this year's event. Firstly, there's even more competition to worry about. Our local newspaper, Yorkton This Week, will also be submitting an entry. Secondly, the sauce entries will actually be put on meat (last year, it was just a simple tasting of a spoon).
   To determine who goes into the May event, Danny and myself will bring our sauces (and some cooked pork) in on Wednesday. Regardless of who wins, it will be a very tasty competition! I'll provide an update later this week.

TTFN

***Update: In a very close vote, my entry by the narrowest of narrow margins was picked by 2 of 3 judges in a blind taste test, with the deciding judge picking my submission because of a little extra tang. Now, we'll take it to the Ducks Unlimited banquet May 8th.***

Mornings

   There are certain advantages about doing morning news here in Yorkton. That picture is one of them. That's what we saw out of some of our office windows this morning. Sunrise over the prairies is hard to beat when it comes to those 'picture-perfect' moments. I'm lucky in that no matter if it's June 21st or December 21st I get to check this view out daily.
   My days start before 0400 (4:00 A.M) local time, and wrap up at 12:00. That means not only do I get to see the sun rise, but I've got all afternoon to do things like cut the grass, shovel snow, go fishing, cook.
   But it isn't all roses, either. There are very many winter days when it's snowing, -35 or colder without the wind, and -40 or lower with it. Those are the times I start looking forward to days like this, and views like this.
   I'm doubly lucky in that I actually have a view. So many people are locked in their cubicles 9:00 to 5:00 and don't even have natural light, let alone a view. Especially one like this.
   Have a happy Friday, and a great weekend!

TTFN

Bread

   A while back, I blogged about the chocolate bread I made. It was wonderful, not overly sweet, but just enough. I mentioned back then I was thinking of sharing the recipe. Wait no more. The original recipe is there, and I've also added the changes I made to make it work. Give it a try sometime. It really is good bread.

Chocolate Chunk Bread

1 pkg. Fleischmann’s RapidRise Yeast, 2½ cups all-purpose flour, divided1 tsp. salt3 Tbs. cocoa powder 1 cup milk ¼ cup sugar 1 Tbs. butter 3 oz. semisweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped. In a medium size bowl, combine yeast, salt, cocoa and 1½ cups of flour and stir. In separate container, combine milk, sugar and butter and heat to 120 to 130 F.

Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Add the remaining cup of flour about¼ cup at a time, mixing until flour is completely incorporated. The resulting dough will be quite soft and sticky. Using a bench knife or plastic dough scraper in one hand, knead the dough for five minutes---keep the other hand dusted with flour to facilitate kneading.Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes. Flatten the dough and place chopped chocolate on top.Fold up the sides of the dough and knead to distribute chocolate evenly throughout the dough. Lightly grease a one quart casserole or other oven-safe dish. Dust your hands with cocoa and shape the dough into a round ball. Place the ball of dough in the baking dish and cover with a dry dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place free from drafts until nearly doubled,about one hour. Bake in the middle third of a preheated 350 F. oven for 35 to 40 minutes,or until sides are browned and loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. If the top crust seems to be browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes of  baking. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Makes one loaf, about 12 servings. 

***(Craig's changes: I used 1 1/2 packs of RapidRise yeast that I re-hydrated in water with a little sugar to make a 'starter', since 2 previous attempts using this recipe produced no 'rise' in the dough. I also placed the dough in a lightly greased bowl for the first rising. After the first rise of an hour. I also punched the dough down, gave it a quick knead, then placed it in the lightly greased casserole and let it rise for another 45 minutes. These steps seem to have made the difference)***

TTFN