Ice Houses and Old Farms

The trail we walked this past weekend went through an old Mennonite farm that has been operational for at least six generations. The most interesting feature for me was the old ice house. I remember Grandma describing the ice box in her kitchen on the 1920's and how she would buy ice in the summer, just like we now purchase ice for our coolers. I never really gave much thought as to where the ice she was talking about came from.

This ice house was built into the bank of Critter Creek, a perennial creek fed by groundwater that runs through the property and into the Grand River. In the winter, chunks of ice would be cut from the creek and river and dragged by sled into the ice house. Layers of straw would add extra insulation and the ice could last into the late summer, or perhaps even into the next winter.

How could a person get through the summer, or any time of year without a refrigerator? I have given thought to that since I saw this ice house. There are certain members of our household who consider ice cream to be an essential daily food group. When I return from grocery shopping the fridge is crammed full of items that cannot stay in the cupboard. Many people I know have two fridges as well as additional freezers.

One of my favourite childhood books was Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. In one part of the story, Anne was beside herself with excitement because ice cream was going to be served at the church picnic. Imagine a twelve year old who had never eaten ice cream! Through a misunderstanding, she was grounded and denied this special treat, and her disappointment was almost too much to bear. The ice cream would have been prepared in a crank with ice from the previous winter.

I don't know if the Old Order Mennonites still use ice houses, especially those who live without electricity. I imagine they would use gas refrigerators. Many of them sell baked goods, meats and cheeses at our local markets, and it is unlikely the health department would allow unrefrigerated items like these to be sold to the public. I wouldn't want to use the ice from our local streams and rivers in my food due to contamination that is present from many sources.

On another note, this farm had a very old orchard with gnarled trees that were being pruned by the farmer. The deer had eaten a lot of bark in the winter from the lowest branches that touched the ground. I was reminded that our local bee hives have been affected by the mysterious bee colony collapse that has occurred across the continent. This is a small orchard, but like the big ones, it will be dependent on bees to pollinate the blossoms in a few weeks. Laura at Natural Notes wrote a recent post about the bee problem.

Do you have ice house or ice box memories or stories? Or have you lived for extended periods of time without a refrigerator?

Muskrat Signs

The trail we walked this past weekend included several areas of natural and historical interest. The entire length of the RIM Park Trail is a paved, two lane path which made the springtime walk a lot less muddy. Hikers and cyclists are asked to stay on the trail as not to disturb the wild life living in sensitive areas near the adjacent ponds, marshes and river banks.

I admire how people like Bev, of Burning Silo are able to interpret animal signs in the wild. I have asked her questions and she recently wrote this post which describes things to look for when searching for caterpillars. The post she wrote on porcupines was just as interesting.
This week, I found a book at our local library called Tracking and the Art of Seeing by Paul Rezendes. It is full of colour pictures and the text is not too difficult for an amateur nature sleuth. I would recommend it without hesitation as he describes the signs of many familiar animals and birds in a very interesting way.

My husband has spent a lot of time outdoors over the years while pursuing his favourite hobby, fishing. He does not go on a lot of walks with me, but can surprise me with his good observation skills. He is the first to see a new bird or track, even though he just has a passing interest in anything that will not grab his fishing line.

As we walked by a pond near the large sports complex, he noticed two structures made from bulrushes and other plant material. Rezendes writes:

Muskrat construct lodges that are every bit as complex as beaver lodges. Construction can begin in August and go on until late October. The muskrat begins with a large platform made of mud piled with small aquatic plants...sticks and leaves, all mixed with more mud. When the pile is about two feet high, the muskrat excavates it from the inside, hollowing it out until a chamber large enough to house a family is formed.

He also describes a muskrat feeding station. These are built in a similar fashion but are smaller than the lodges. They provide a safe place for the muskrat to forage for food away from the lodge. Muskrat are mainly herbivores, but will eat things like clams, fish, snails and mussels. The muskrat at the top of the post was photographed by my father as it ate plants at the edge of the Grand River.

These tracks were left in the soft mud at the edge of the river. I cannot say with certainty that they are from a muskrat, but I would say it would be a good guess. I would have to ask why there are just one set of prints present.
Seeing birds and animals is pleasurable, but learning to interpret their sounds, habits and trails can be even more interesting and rewarding.

Winterwoman at A Passion for Nature has sent me a link to a photo of muskrat scat. The book I mentioned has plenty of scat photos as well.

Red-tailed Hawk

My husband and I took advantage of a sunny Saturday morning to walk a new trail that is within the city limits. On one side of the 4 km trail is a golf course, and on the other is the Grand River.
There is a 17 acre nature preserve for nesting birds, reptiles and amphibians. This hawk followed us for at least 3o minutes. I took numerous pictures and am so confused with trying to ID him or her.

The belly really doesn't match any picture in my books and trying to sort out immatures, male, female, dark phase, light phase.....oh dear, my head is aching.

Please help me!
(I also saw an Eastern Phoebe today. Got a so-so picture, but I was pleased to see a new spring bird)

Thanks to Monarch and Larry for the ID!

Old Order Mennonites and Technology

I received a very interesting comment on my post An Old Order Mennonite Sunday from Erik Wesner who writes a blog called Amish America. He has a lot of interest and knowledge about Old Order Anabaptists and his blog is worth visiting. In his comment he wrote,

"...the majority of OOMs in Waterloo County use only open vehicles--
which looks to be the case in your pics,
though I don't know if that is your exact area or not.

Another one of your pics (Feb 1)shows a squarish-looking closed-top--
reminds me of the buggies around Nappanee, Indiana--
they always seemed a bit boxier than the Amish ones in the area.
I wonder if those are related to Pike Mennonites,
which is supposedly one of the most conservative groups it seems."

The pictures I posted on Sunday were all of open carriages, mainly because I found the faces of the people more interesting than the buggies they were driving. My parents took all the pictures in this post, including those that show a variety of closed buggies.

We followed this buggy through the covered bridge shown at the top of the page. It had rubber tires, which are forbidden by stricter sects of Old Order Mennonites. A couple of small children were peering out the back window if this small box styled wagon.

This lovely team of horses pulled a much larger buggy at a good pace down the highway. You can see the difference in the style of the wheels.

This very bony and mangey horse pulled a smaller buggy past a house with fieldstone walls. We saw several farmhouses built in this fashion in this area near Elmira, Ontario.

Erik also commented on the solar panels we saw on this farm house. If you look on the roof line to the right of the windmill, you can see the three panels.

And the solar panel thing surprised me as well too--
I've actually seen these in quite a few midwestern Amish communities,
some of them powering electric fences. I like this as another
example of the Amish way of making decisions on technology--I feel it's quite a sophisticated decision-making process concerning what tech they do and don't allow.

This farm had no electricity lines, but several black cars were in the driveway. The Conservative Mennonites drive black cars rather than horses. It is not unusual for one family to have members belonging to different Mennonite groups. My neighbour was raised in an Old Order home, but left to join the most progressive church. She and her husband were welcomed at family gatherings in their Old Order extended families and she always felt a close kinship with them.

I have been doing some reading this week on the Mennonites in our region. There are many different groups that have formed because of various interpretations of what constitutes a plain life. We had an Old Order lady admitted to our rehabilitation unit this week, which is quite unusual as many of them do not join our federal health care or pension plans. While her family uses a horse and buggy, she was transported by ambulance for treatment following her serious accident. On Kevin Williams' blog, The Amish Cook, (Kevin is Susan Gets Native's relative) he writes about the quandry in deciding whether cell phones are acceptable technology for the Amish community.

Technology is changing the world at a dramatic pace. It must be difficult for the Old Order people to maintain a lifestyle based on how their ancestors lived hundreds of years ago when they must interact with the outside world that is so different in customs and values.

The Kissing Bridge at West Montrose, Ontario
(between Elmira and Guelph)

Friday Flowers: Potted annuals

A young Dakota on our back deck

A couple of weeks ago, we had a few warm, sunny days and I hauled my flower pots out of the garage and put them on the back deck. Our home is built on sandy soil, which allows for excellent drainage, but it is not the best soil for flower gardens. We tend to have hot, humid summers, often with little rain, and our municipality has strict watering restrictions for lawns and gardens. I have planted low maintenance and native perennial plants in the flower beds such as echinacea, sedum, lavender, bee balm, evening primrose, hostas, trilliums, ferns and lilies to name a few. I have a variety of blooms throughout the season and do not plant any annuals except in my flower pots.

I like to have plenty of colour on the deck and plant geraniums, hybiscus, miniature roses, wave petunias, as well as various herbs. To start the season, I often plant ice pansies as they tolerate frost and snow and thrive in cooler temperatures.

I am anticipating the spring weather that must be just around the corner. With the slow start to the season, I thought this prayer would be most appropriate for gardeners everywhere.

Gardener's Prayer

O Lord, grant that in some way
it may rain every day,
Say from about midnight until three o'clock
in the morning,
But, You see, it must be gentle and warm
so that it can soak in;
Grant that at the same time it would not rain on
campion, alyssum, helianthus, lavendar, and others which
You in Your infinite wisdom know
are drought-loving plants-
I will write their names on a bit of paper
if you like-
And grant that the sun may shine
the whole day long,
But not everywhere (not, for instance, on the
gentian, plantain lily, and rhododendron)
and not too much;
That there may be plenty of dew and little wind,
enough worms, no lice and snails, or mildew,
and that once a week thin liquid manure and guano
may fall from heaven.
Amen.

Karel Capel


What are your favourite flowering plants for pots and planters?

Vernal pool discoveries

My daughter and I took the dog to the old dump site the other evening to explore the vernal pools and fields. We have had very little sun this month, and even though it was cold, the bright evening sky was a welcome respite from grey clouds. I have so little knowledge when it comes to naming flora and fauna, and thought some pictures would be helpful when looking through various guides. Dakota has become an asset, as he discovers new items of interest before I do and he has learned to leave the birds and rabbits alone. This is his idea of doggy paradise.

I took pictures of various mosses and emerging plants and identified salamander eggs and frog eggs in the vernal pools. A number of birds are nesting in the area.

A pair of Mallards eyed us silently and cautiously from the tall grass. The female was very well camouflaged. This goose, acting distressed, but not at all aggressive, paced around the nesting area.

There are many Red Winged Blackbirds here who continue to sing and pose for me in a most gregarious manner. I have seen no new birds in a week and am sure the cold, strong north winds have kept birds from continuing their migration across the Great Lakes.
We turned over many rocks and stones, but found no insects. It has been exceptionally cold this month and last night we had another winter storm with snow and freezing rain. Hopefully this is Old Man Winter's last gasp. The inhabitants of this field and the inhabitiants in this house hope that someone pushes the PLAY button and stops the PAUSE on spring.

My first cousin once removed, 10 year old Samuel, has started his own nature and bird blog. I love the way he writes, at times very adult like, but the child view shines through!

Balancing Act

I returned to work yesterday after having more than a week off and kept busy updating myself on the new admissions and changes in my regular caseload. I have said before that I really enjoy my job and that has not changed. Long walks and nature observation are stress relieving pastimes, but working with people is most rewarding for me.

I walked in a room to introduce myself to a new patient and recognized her right away from her admission a couple of years ago. She had a past history of a stroke that had left her weak on one side. When I last saw her, she was using a wheeled walker or cane to walk and used a wheelchair for distances. She had gone on a bus tour, and when the group stopped for lunch, she fell while walking into the restaurant and broke her hip. She required surgery and will be in hospital for an extended period of time.

This is a very nice lady, without cognitive impairment. I asked her if she had been using her cane or walker when she fell. Well, the answer was a sheepish, "No". I stopped myself from lecturing because it was obvious she knew she had taken a costly risk.

A big part of my job is fall prevention education. We do a number of tests to determine the risk of falling and the need for an adaptive aid. Many things can impair balance, including strokes, degenerative neurological diseases and peripheral neuropathies, most often caused by diabetes.
But many people develop weakness and balance problems because of inactivity and disuse. When is the last time you saw an adult playing hopscotch, or walking in tandem steps on a curb stone? Children often perform high balance activities as part of play.

One of the tests we do has 14 components to score a person's fall risk. We ask the patient to stand on one foot for 5 seconds, repeating with each leg. People who cannot do this tend to shuffle or walk quickly and need to use a gait aid. It should be easy to maintain a one legged stance for 20 to 30 seconds and this can improve with practice.

Another position we ask a person to take is a tandem stance, one foot in front of the other. Most of my patients are unable to do these two activities.

Our universal government health plan covers 75% to 100% of the cost of a new rollator walker and I do many prescriptions for people who need one. The problem is that people will not always use them. Pride and independence seem to be present in two year olds and eighty year olds. I feel I have done my best work when I prevent someone from having a bad fall rather than getting them back on their feet after a broken hip. Doing simple balance exercises, engaging in regular activity, and using suitable adaptive aids can help maintain independence for many years.

My new patient will always need a walker, if she is able to walk independently again. If she could only go back in time to that bus and disembark with her cane!

Garbage Day

Today is garbage day and we have more than usual at the curb because my parents and eldest daughter have been here this week. This is what six of us have discarded in a week. I have a composter, my husband disposes of our garden trash at a clean fill site, and we recycle everything allowed by our municipality.

At the end of our street is a "park" that was once a landfill site. When we moved here in the mid-1970s, the dump was just closing and many truckloads of dirt were used to cover the rotting garbage. After the ground was covered, large amounts of methane gas were created and a whole block of new homes was evacuated for at least 10 years while pipes and vents were constructed to remove the dangerous gases. For years a large flame burned on the hill as the gas was burned, and a local factory, Best Pipe, fueled its operation with methane from the dump.
The houses are occupied once again, the gas fire is gone, and there are people who do not even know the history of this site.


This large field and hill, locally known as Mount Trashmore, is becoming naturalized and is a great place to take the dog for a run. To give an idea of scale, there is a person walking on the trail in this picture I took from the top of the hill. The hill is a popular spot for tobogganing in the winter.

I have written several posts about this park. This is where the Red Winged Blackbird swamp is located. This week I have seen Kildeers and an American Kestrel, as well as the pair of Red Tailed Hawks who have claimed this territory. The Red Maple featured last Friday was pictured here as well.

Earlier this year we went to the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto. The exhibit on garbage was most interesting. Core samples were taken from old land fill sites in the the area, and surprisingly, even materials like paper, consider to be biodegradable, were completely intact after 50 years. Dated newspapers and letters from the 1950's and 1960's were on display and were completely legible.

This is a picture of one of the core garbage samples. An anaerobic environment is created when the packed trash is buried, and it does not decompose. I shudder to think about what is under the ground of Mount Trashmore. In the cattail swamp, we noticed an area with an oily film on the water, no doubt from the buried "treasure" beneath. When this dump was created, toxic materials and recyclables were not sorted out as we are encouraged to do today.

Each spring, the retreating snow reveals the garbage thrown out on the roadways over the winter by people too lazy and indifferent to use a trash can. I expect that these people would not take the time to recycle and compost garbage either. Our society is now generating large amounts of electronic garbage as computers and accessories are frequently replaced. Garbage is even a bigger problem in third world countries where services are not available for garbage collection.

If I participate in the Bioblitz, officially or unofficially, I will choose an area of this old landfill and examine how this man-made site is being naturalized.