Stuffie Mail!

I received some mail over the last few weeks... let's get started!

First up, a postcard from Jerry & Ben who went to Quebec! 

Rose would indeed love to visit!! She was supposed to go with her class in Grade 7 but... you know... Covid happened...

Sandy wants to know if Ben can actually understand Quebecois.... or does it sound like Glaswegian English?

Then we have this card... also from Jerry & Ben!

It's a Halloween card!

With a Starbucks card!

I entered their Halloween context you know... in all three categories... 

Cool!! I can have a lot of hot chocolates with $15USD (at least 3 here)...

"Take Rose for a hot chocolate!" ???

Welllll... I guess so... she did help with the cat pumpkin!

Then we have this card from Little Fox!

It's a bearthday card! And has a cat on the front... who looks a bit like Minnie did... (miss that little cat).

Happy Bearthday greetings from LF and the Mice...

Thanks guys!!

I'm impressed that mice sent a cat card!!

Apples and More Apples!

 Hullo!! We got a bunch of apples this fall from a friend...

Tonnes of apples!!! Mind you... the humans gathered them and picked them so technically... this is all their doing... all of these apples!

What are we going to do with them??

Cause it's not just a sink-full...

It's many bags full!

You got it... apple sauce! We know that Jerry & Ben would probably make apple pie but... our freezer isn't big enough to hold dozens of pies!

So apple sauce it is...

We added a bit of water and cinnamon and then let them cook and... wait... where'd it all go?

Geez... you can't step away for a minute here and stuff moves fast!!

Mama ran it through the food mill to get the skins out and make it smooooooothhhh...

And now we are pressure canning it... we are old hands at the pressure canning now.

This was a bit that was left over... it is seriously yummy!

Did you do any canning this fall??

We Remember - Cadet John Scott Rowan, Royal Flying Corps (Canada)

Hullo, today is Remembrance Day in Canada and I'd like to tell the story of Cadet John Scott Rowan of the Royal Flying Corps...

John Scott Rowan was born in Scotland on 26 October, 1895 (or 1894) to James Harvey Rowan and his wife Anne Rogan. The family immigrated to Canada and settled on the north end of Gabriola Island, just off the coast near Nanaimo. 

After graduating high school in Nanaimo, John became a teacher and ended up as the principal in Powell River, just across the water on the mainland.

John joined the Royal Flying Corps (Canada) in late 1917 as a Cadet. He was attached to the 43rd Wing of the RFC.

In order to expedite the training of pilots, the RFC's school of aerial gunnery and several training squadrons (with 200 planes) moved to the milder climate of Fort Worth, Texas between November 1917 and April 1918. The RFC squadrons were based out of Camp Taliaferro near Fort Worth and flew the Curtiss JN4 (Jenny) aeroplane.

A Curtiss JN4 - Jenny aeroplane (from Wikipedia)

There, the R.F.C. collaborated with the United States Signal Corps, in completing more than 67,000 flying hours and training more than 1,960 pilots. It was still a dangerous occupation, 39 men lost their lives due to training accidents, influenza and other illnesses.

During a training exercise in Fort Worth, John was killed when his plane crashed after going into a spinning nose dive at 200 feet. He was 23 years old when he died on 29 March, 1918. A memorial site at Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth commemorates the RFC boys who lost their lives there.

Memorial at Greenwood - Cadet J.S. Rowan is second from the bottom.

Cadet Rowan was the first Nanaimo boy to make the "supreme sacrifice" in the Royal Flying Corps. Even if he had survived his time at Fort Worth, the live-span of an RFC pilot was very short during the First World War.

April 3, 1918 - 80 Canadian Training Squadron RAF at Camp Taliaferro, Field No. 2, Fort Worth, Texas. The aircraft behind is a Curtiss JN4 “Jenny”. (From Airwar19141918 site)

John's remains were returned to Nanaimo where his funeral took place on 9 April, 1918. He is interred at the Nanaimo Municipal Cemetery (Range 26, Plot 115) and is listed on the Nanaimo Cenotaph.

War Memorial Cenotaph in Nanaimo with John S. Rowan listed.

On 11 November, at 11:11 am, we remember all of those who fought and died.

More Information

NBC - commemoration of the RFC buried at Greenwood Memorial Park, Fort Worth, TX

Maritime Quest Site - pics of the RFC memorial at Greenwood.

Airwar19141918 - more info on RFC at Fort Worth

It Was My Bearthday!

 Hullo! It was my bearthday yesterday!! It was a pretty good day, all things considered...

I got some cold-smoked salmon on a platter (plate)... YUM!!!!

No little bear is ever going to say "no" to salmon!

And then, after the salmon... it was time for dessert! Which was an ice cream bar...

But not just any ice cream bar...

This is Chapman's pistachio ice cream with dark chocolate.... Gramma introduced us to them and they are seriously YUMMY!!!

And again... no little bear is going to say "no" to ice cream... Oh, and the box that these come in has 8 bars in total... anyone else interested in trying one?

Act not... because they are going fast!

Oh... and there was a campfire in the backyard but... I didn't get a picture out there with me cause it s started raining...

And then it was time to crack open a cold drink and...

Watch the CFL Western Conference Final!!! Between Saskatchewan and Winnipeg... We had been rooting for the BC Lions but they did not make it. sigh...

We don't prefer either SK or Wpg...

But given the score (SK 16 - Wpg 38)... we think Winnipeg will win!

The Eastern Conference Final happened earlier and Toronto squeaked by... so it'll be Winnipeg against Toronto in a week or two. For that one... we will definitely root for Winnipeg!!! West needs to beat the pants off East!

Oh... and I got some bearthday greetings too!!! An online card from Ajdin!! Thanks buddy!!

All-in-all, a pretty relaxed bearthday (burp). Is it time for sekrebeary evaluations??