Because the bees survived the winter, I asked the bee keeper what to do next, and he said “get pollen patties.” Just the name sounds good, so I raced out to Buckerfields and got a couple. Now I have the somewhat scary task of opening the lid and placing one across the frames, hoping I don’t enrage the bees.

I enraged myself last week as I had to gather all my paperwork to get ready to drop it off at the accountant’s. Each year at this time I scream at myself “why?” But I know every December as orders come in, I scribble a note on a piece of paper, and don’t make a proper invoice, and then I have to do it in February, crying.

The Women in Business magazine in the Capital News had a very nice article about me and the fruitcake business. Our neighbourhood carrier dropped four extra copies in my mailbox as I’d run into him on the dog walk, and told him I needed them for my mom.

I received one lone local order for a Harvest cake as a result of the article, and a nice elderly woman called to inquire. She said she used to make fruitcake but doesn’t any longer. I told her about mine, and she sounded keen until I said $15.00. At that point all enthusiasm vanished, but I’m fine with that.

I took the mags to Osoyoos as mom and I spent last weekend with my nieces Sunny and Julie. They came up together from Maple Ridge, and had the tremendous joy of selecting art they’d like, then loading it up for the drive home.

I also taught them how to make my gramma’s cookies, the Spitzbuebchen, so that recipe’s safely been passed along and I can die in peace. Over that one thing, anyway.

Here’s something fantastic that happened to me on the dog walk. I should back up and say all my life my dad would come into the house holding something he’d found along the road. He had eagle eyes.

The other day I spotted a small agate about the size of a large blueberry, and picked it up. I brought it home, and said to myself this is a sign from dad something bigger’s about to come my way.

Since quitting the gym due to the dreaded migraines, the dog and I have been walking further and further afield, often for an hour. I’ve been scouring the ground as we walk or run along, and then yesterday on Spiers Road, of all places, I spotted two patio loungers in the slough beside the road!

Last year I’d browsed sites looking for metal loungers with a mesh back and seat, and here they were, free. I quickly walked home with the dog, hopped into my little Honda and parked on Spiers. I had to go down quite a steep bank, and wouldn’t you know it, those things are heavy!

However I hauled one up, struggled it into the trunk, and drove home with the lid open, as it was such a short distance. I unloaded it and drove back to retrieve the other one. Sure, they’re a bit worse for wear after their time in the slough, but really as Larry David would say, they look “pretty, pretty, pretty good.”

Since I began to realize I had migraines, and wasn’t hungover constantly (they both feel the same, curiously) I started to keep the recommended migraine journal. Over time, it became evident that not only does alcohol trigger them, but exercise does as well. So after all these many years, I had to tell the gym to cancel my membership!

I have so many friends there, and will miss those women terribly, but I have to get out of this pain cycle. I feel good, go to the gym and do a class, and then the next day I have a migraine and can’t do anything at all. It just doesn’t seem worth it.

Yesterday when I walked Louie he decided to take a very long walk, and we were gone for 50 minutes. I figure if I can wing my weights around a bit, walk the dog, and try not to eat like Mike Duffy I should be okay. In any case, I’ll continue the journal and report back.

Certainly if I ate like Nicky, I’d weigh the same as Kirstie Alley in no time. On Sunday I made a nice pot roast for us, and as well as mounds of meat, carrots and potatoes, Nicky smothered the entire plate in a full cup of thick gravy.

I had an interesting dream whereby a friend and I were going down a building, and through various doors, to get to the main floor. Once we swung through the last door, and as we were about to exit, the outer doors closed and we were trapped in this box.

When I woke up I wondered what kind of a box I feel trapped in, and realized the dream showed me I couldn’t return where I’d been, nor move forward until a puzzle had been solved. After that I decided to quit the gym, but I’m not sure if that’s what it was about.

There are two neighbours that border my vegetable garden area, and the other day one of them dropped dead. Norm was so loud that when they first moved here about 15 years ago, I recall asking Denis if he was on our driveway. It turned out he was down at his own house, but I could hear him all the way up here. A man filled with life. Not!

He was 64 and planning retirement next year. I often thank Old Man Holmes-Smith, my grade 12 English literature teacher, as we learned excellent quotes such as Do not ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee (Dunn). Hence when someone dies, I always think man, that could’ve been me!

Next week a Woman in Business magazine insert will come out in the Kelowna Capital News, and I’m one of the people being featured. It was so nice of a young reporter to contact me. Due to my age, when I arrived and saw he was about the same age as Nicky I thought the poor kid!

Can you imagine interviewing an old bag about her business, and then that business is fruitcake? He didn’t take notes but recorded the conversation. At one point as I was expounding on the virtues of fruitcake, he yawned. I really felt for him at that moment.

I don’t know why, but for some reason I told him I’m trying to write the memoir of Nuttier than a Fruitcake, so he may include that in the article. If so, I might actually finally have to do it!

I told the nice cashier at Lakeview Market my son’s engaged to a Japanese girl and she (of Japanese descent) said “don’t you already have a Thai daughter-in-law?” I said yes I do, and now I’ll have a Japanese one, too. I said obviously I was such a terrible mother they had to go right outside their own race to get the bad taste out of their mouths.

Nicky and Haruka plan to get married in a very small ceremony, either here or Japan. I suggested they might meet halfway in Hawaii and marry there. All we know is it’s likely to occur in April.

That’s the good news and other than that, the bad news is mainly around the continued broken appliances around here. I got a new washing machine at Christmas, a new fridge in January, and now the water softener is broken, and will be $800 to replace.

But with the amount of minerals in our water all of the pipes’ll be filled with gunk if I don’t buy a new water softener. It took a while for me to realize it’d stopped working, as I thought I was just having an awful lot of bad hair days.

Louie, the feisty dachshund, was barking for about twenty minutes, so I thought he must be seeing the deer, as they always make him bark like that. It went on and on, and so I went out to see. I could hear him down the hill where he likes to shout at the deer.

I walked over and as soon as I did, a bobcat he’d treed saw me and jumped from its perch on a branch and sprang off. He went after it, but the cat was almost flying it moved so fast. We’d seen tracks in the snow around Christmas, but didn’t know what kind of animal made them.

I wonder if that’s the animal that attacked Wrecks, causing the abscess he had a while ago. It’s always hard to know as we also have a large raccoon population and they hate cats, too.

The other week I got a form letter from the BC government stating all food producing businesses now have to complete some onerous forms around food safety. I threw this straight into the garbage, and then yesterday I got a call from someone in the Ministry letting me know about free workshops to help us with these new processes.

As he’d e mailed me the dates, I replied to him saying really? I said I took Food Safe and had a business license which involves a health inspector coming to your place. I said you want more from all home-based food businesses in BC?

So every food vendor at every outdoor market will have a food safety plan? Will every on-line cookie and cupcake business be contacted to do this? It seems expensive, unnecessary if the person has been inspected, and antithetical to entrepreneurs who loathe more forms. Why all the red tape given all some of us have gone through to be in a food business to begin with?

So many questions about our illustrious provincial government, and so little interest in complying with their make-work assignments. I wonder how this will pan out.

I attended the Liberal AGM on Sunday, ran for the position of Organization Chair, and won. There was another woman running, but once I’d crafted my speech I knew anyone coming up against that would have a tough go. Because I wanted to win, I pulled out all stops, and mentioned my lifelong history of Liberalism, as well as the fruitcake business, which brought predictable laughter.

I started with a quote from Sir Wilfred Laurier, and ended with the motto of the Royal Family, so basically covered all my bases. In any case, I’m now on the executive of the local riding association, and feel thrilled as I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. I adored campaigning last year, and want to continue working for my party.

Nicky’s in Japan visiting Haruka for two weeks, and it’s very nice to be able to have dinner ready for myself in five minutes. When he’s here I make something decent for dinner, but on my own I’m quite happy with odd food.

Well not odd, really, but just fast. The other day I made lentils, and so I just reheated those for dinner. Total cost about 25 cents. Or, I quickly fry a bit of chicken and garlic and throw it over Romaine lettuce for a nice chicken Caesar salad.

Luke’s nerves are bad as he’s waiting to be called to the rigs, but so far nothing. His boss told him there’s a drill coming up in Saskatchewan, and so he’s waiting every day for this to begin. It’ll be one of life’s miracles, given the current price of oil. I heard on CBC yesterday it’d cost more to buy a barrel of Coca Cola.

I was all set to attend a mosaic workshop at Fusion Glass on Saturday, but the weather conspired against me. We had a bit of a snowstorm, and I couldn’t shovel my way out of here. Then on top of it, as I was valiantly trying to do so, I slipped on hidden ice and banged the back of my head really hard on the concrete.

I stood up immediately and felt the back of my head, sure there’d be a hole from the impact, but all I felt was a growing lump. No blurred vision or weird headache, so figured I wasn’t concussed, just bruised. In any case, I phoned Fusion Glass and told them I couldn’t make it and they replied no problem as there’ll be other workshops.

Alison and Maryjoy happened upon each other while buying avocados in Mexico. They’re both there with respective family members on separate holidays. Small world, eh? My pals Kathy and David are off to Ixtapa soon, and John Patterson and wife are off on a Caribbean cruise. I have to pretend to be thrilled for everyone who’s headed to a hot climate.

We have nothing but gray skies, snow, slush, and general unpleasantness here. Last year around this time I was preparing to fly off to Hawaii to spend a week with Sam and husband Peter.

It appears I’m very jealous and upset by all of these people and their fancy pants trips and lack of my own. Once I’m retired, I really do hope I’ll make the effort to leave this valley every January for at least a week. Otherwise the overcast skies can drive one nuts.

But then there’s my precious dog, who doesn’t give a whit about the weather, as long as he knows where I am. So instead of grousing, I should try to be more like my dog.

I bought myself one of those adult colouring books for Christmas, and find myself spending hours a day, colouring. It’s very meditative and relaxing. I need it, as I got myself into a tizzy over trying to join the local Liberals’ executive.

At the thank you party for volunteers in November, the president said please attend the AGM in January and consider running for a position. I thought what a good idea, as I enjoyed my bout of volunteering in the past year. I replied to an e mail in December, listing the positions to which I wanted to apply, and heard nothing further.

This week I got an e mail from the nominations chair stating, “Currently, all of the executive positions have an interested candidate. You are more than welcome to let your name stand for any of them, which would mean a contested race voted upon at the AGM. There are also Director at Large positions available as well.”

I replied, gosh that’s odd, as does that mean my e mail arrived later than those who were slotted into those positions? I added shouldn’t an election occur first, and then people get on the executive? No reply to that, but then today I got an e mail inviting me to a “meet and greet” which is occurring today (“sorry for the short notice”) and “was planned outside the nomination committee.”

I replied with thanks, stating I’d be there for sure. This should be interesting, non?

I’m in the midst of binge-watching House of Cards, so maybe I’m just in an overly suspicious frame of mind regarding what’s going on. Which is why the colouring books have been wonderful as the adrenalin surges over some of these messages have been tremendous.

Luke received the fantastic news that he may shortly be reporting to an oil rig in Saskatchewan for a couple of months of work. It appears his company’s called Lucky Luke’s Consulting for a good reason, given the huge numbers out of work.

Last night as I took the dog out for his night time bathroom break, I saw both James and Luke’s cars in the driveway. I heard them gaming away downstairs and thought it’s just like old times. The kids are downstairs partying like it’s 1999. Maybe I’m in some kind of a time warp.

Certainly the colouring is reminiscent of a time long ago, and I remember I used to adore my pencil and wax crayons as a child. I started this latest colouring project with wax crayons, but soon found pencil crayons are the way to go. I’ve coloured some very nice pictures and have amassed a stack of them already.

At the same time, I listen to LP’s by the Beatles, Cyndi Lauper, The Boss, Elvis Costello, and Tina Turner, reliving the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Luke was born in 1986 and it appears my penchant for music stopped around that time.

I’m so glad I bought myself a cheap small record player so I can colour and sing myself into a happy mood. It’s as though I found my own individualized meditation method that puts me into a calmer zone. Rock on!

I wondered when I last wrote a blog, and was shocked by my own laziness. It’s been three weeks, so that has to be a record. However, I blame the fruitcake business which overlaps with the busiest season of the year. I never thought of that when I started it.

This year I sold every last fruitcake, and a handful of people were disappointed. They’ll know to order earlier next year, as I decided having leftover stock has to be stopped. It’s never as good after a few months, despite the reputation of an aged fruitcake.

This was Jan’s first Christmas in Canada, so I wanted to be sure she had a nice one. I think she did, as she had both the 24th and 25th off work, so was able to partake in the German tradition as well as the English one the following day.

Margaret and Brendan arrived by plane on the afternoon of the 24th, and Luke had gone to Osoyoos to pick mom up, so we were all ready to go when the balloon went up at 5:00 PM. We had the usual carols around the piano, then opened gifts. I made a brisket which was terrible, so that was a bit of a disappointment.

On Christmas Day we lounged around eating, and Luke brought over his roulette wheel and so we gambled for a couple of hours. Mom won. We then had a large turkey dinner following by warm peach pie, and continued eating chocolate and cookies until we fell into bed, bloated.

Luke drove mom home on Boxing Day, and Margaret and I did nothing whatsoever. It snowed like mad, so I didn’t even walk my poor dog. On the 27th we drove to Luke and Jan’s new condo so Margaret could see it, and had a really nice visit there.

Margaret and Brendan left yesterday, so today is Day 1 of normal eating. I felt so nauseated when I went to bed last night I really thought I would puke. As much fun as it is to eat chocolate and cookies by the pound, the old pancreas and liver take a terrible beating for it.

2015 was quite a decent year, in that I went to Hawaii and Virginia, and Jan arrived. Nicky met Haruka, and plans to visit her in Japan in a couple of weeks and propose. Mom turned 90, listed the orchard, and then took it off the market again. All in all, an interesting year.

My fruitcake business grew in a complimentary way. I noticed repeat customers ordered a tiny bit more each, so that sales per customer were a lot better. Not that I mind mailing or delivering one fruitcake, but some people who had ordered two, ordered four, and so on. One nice customer in Alberta ordered 10.

I went on a diet in May, and managed to keep the blubber off, and celebrated my 14th year at the women’s gym. I need that place, as I have yoga and Pilates mats, weights, a band, and a bike at a home, all in pristine condition.

On New Year’s Day I’m invited to Petra’s for dinner, and that’ll be a fantastic way to kick off 2016. I have a feeling something absolutely wonderful awaits. I don’t know why but maybe because Freddie is turning 70, and Luke 30, that I feel some sort of wild anticipation.

Almost two weeks ago I noticed a scratch above the cat’s eye and knew an abscess was forming. Because Wrecks was born wild, he’s never been to the vet other than as a kitten to be neutered. He’s the sort of cat who uses his powerful hind claws to push himself off my chest if I try to hold him.

So I weighed the pros and cons of the anaesthesia, sutures, drainage tube and collar, all of which would be provided by the vet at an enormous cost. I decided putting a cone on a wild cat was akin to throwing him into a pack of coyotes, so thought I would handle the abscess on my own.

Kids, don’t try this at home! I’ve owned pets all my life, and have to say the abscess was one of the worst pet situations I’ve had to go through. Around Day Four I was e mailing people saying I think I have to take the cat in to be euthanized, as he was in bad shape.

However, somehow with grit and determination, I got the cat through it all, and now he just likes to keep a scab over his eye. Every day it’s healed over, then in the evening he goes into a lick, wipe, lick, wipe fit with his paw and gets the scab off. It’ll be months before the memory of the abscess is gone thanks to the ubiquitous scab.

I was quite relieved to have saved that money from the vet, as then I was able to hand it straight over to a plumber. Silly me, I thought all I had was plugged drains, but four hours and $710 later I had new pipes under the sink as well as the free-running drains I’d originally wanted.

You know how thrilled I was to have volunteered for the Liberals, as I adored all of the people I met. So I thoroughly enjoyed a thank you to the volunteers’ event held at the Kelowna Golf and Country Club. It was at 3:00 PM and was a dessert buffet, so I did as well as I could, going back three times to fill my plate.

The AGM for the riding is in January and I plan to attend and let my name stand for one of the executive positions. I think it’ll be tremendous fun.

Because of my poor record-keeping, I didn’t plan the volume of the Okanagan Harvest Cakes properly and I think by the end of this week I will have run out. Being a greedy person, the thought of quickly baking more has crossed my mind, but I just don’t have the time as I have my own Christmas baking to do.

I already made Freddie’s cookies and mailed them off, but I’m going to Osoyoos on Sunday so I want to have some for there, too as I plan to give some as gifts. Mom’s having a dinner party for 8 people and I’m making it, but Jerralynn’s kindly making the appetizer and dessert.

On Monday I was at the postal wicket for 25 minutes as I had so many orders to mail. I’m heading out there again this morning, then will have to go at least once more. Each day that goes by means longer and longer line-ups, so I really wish people would order early.

But really in two weeks it’ll all be over once again, and as usual, I survived the fruitcake season.

Jan and Luke bought a condo across from the college, and so we went out to look for some furniture at the local thrift stores. I said now remember, you might not find a thing on the first outing, so we probably have to plan to go every few days for a few weeks to get everything.

We started at the Salvation Army, and there wasn’t a thing there, so we proceeded to the Mennonites with me lecturing them saying see? it could take a long time. However as soon as we got there Luke saw a kitchen table and chair set he liked, and so decided to buy it. It’s wood, with four chairs and thick navy pillows.

Then we proceeded to the Gospel Mission store, and while there found a nice couch for $125 and a coffee table for $70 and bought those. Luke said that’s all we need, so in an hour all of the shopping was done.

Then Jan said she wanted a resume so she could look for work, and I drafted one up and sent it to Luke to edit. I said to them now don’t be disappointed as you might not find a job for a long time and will have to submit a lot of applications.

Two days ago I looked on-line and can you believe, there was an ad for a Thai cook! I sent Jan’s resume with a brief note saying please speak in Thai if you phone.

Yesterday morning they headed to the restaurant, not realizing there was already a message from the owners on Jan’s phone. So when they got there Jan was hired on the spot! She spent less than a day looking for work, so I was wrong once again.

A nice person from Quality Greens e mailed and asked if I could supply fruitcakes to all four locations and I said I used to, but I stopped doing it. I explained I hand-make each fruitcake, so can’t sell a product like that wholesale any more. I asked if he’d direct people to my website, and he alleged he would.

Next Wednesday Maxine Dehart will write about me in her business column, so that should bring a brief flurry of sales. I must say I’m enjoying the business so much more now that I have it under some semblance of control.

Yesterday I did something very enjoyable, which was to get out my pile of recipes and separate all those needed for Christmas. I’m going to make the usual cookies, but I also want to try a carrot and parsnip souffle as a side dish for the turkey this year.

And I already know on Christmas Day we’ll be eating a hot peach pie as I bought one in August, solely for that purpose. The Van Kalkeren fruit stand very near to my mom’s house sells fruit pies, and they’re really fantastic as they weigh several pounds from all the fruit.

So you can imagine how wonderful it’ll be to taste Okanagan peaches in winter. I also made and froze cherry and peach compotes, which can be served warmish over ice cream. They’re made with a bit of brandy so should be delicious as well. I’m so looking forward to the gastronomic aspects of Christmas!

It’s very late in the season for the bees, but I noticed they’re still emptying the jars of syrup I provide them, so I’ve just kept on replenishing them. However yesterday I thought it was getting ridiculous as soon the syrup’s going to be frozen in the jar. And I know the bees won’t drink it if it’s under 5 degrees C out.

In the late afternoon, IE around 4:00 PM as it was already getting dark, I put on the jacket of my bee suit and grabbed my special gloves. I went down and took the jar off the hole, and stapled down the metal mesh guard. Naturally this enraged the bees, and a couple of them decided I needed to be attacked.

I’d done only a casual closure of the bee jacket, and I could hear some bees buzzing around me as I ran up the hill in the semi dark. I ran downstairs and tore off the jacket and gloves, and then ran into Nicky’s living room and said “Do you see a bee near me?”

He said he could hear it, and so I ripped off my cardigan and sweater, tearing off an earring in the process, and threw the clothes on the floor. I stood there in my bra and asked in a high state of agitation if he could see any bees, and he said not yet but if you’re that scared why don’t you get out of this area? Screaming, I left the room and ran upstairs as fast as I could see.

A minute later Nicky arrived upstairs, and calmly handed me the sweater and cardigan, and said there were two bees, which he’d killed. I said well thanks, and put on my clothes. Remember when I was badly stung on the ankles and then said hey guess what, now I’m no longer scared of the bees? I was wrong.

Now I just have to duct tape a bit of styrofoam around the hive for insulation for the winter, and then buh bye bees until spring. And it’s just in time for me to concentrate on my High Season, which is in full swing.

The other day a nice customer called saying she was on her way home to Calgary and wondered if she could pick up 3 fruitcakes. I said sure, and waited for her to arrive. It was around 5:30 PM, pitch dark out, and surprise, my outside lights aren’t working.

I was sitting there watching the news when I heard a knock at the French doors leading to the deck. There was the poor woman, trying to bust her way in to get her fruitcakes. She said she’d knocked on the front door, but in this house, you can’t hear anything like that. I said to her people really have to work hard to get fruitcakes from me, don’t they?

Have I mentioned I’m a victim of migraines? I probably have, given my penchant to elicit pity whenever possible. In my zeal to prevent them, as well as giving up all alcohol as it’s a trigger, I’ve now bought an expensive device called a Cefaly. Not sure if you’ve ever been to a physiotherapist, but this device is a TENS machine.

You put electrodes on your head, then turn it on, and strong electrical currents pulsate through the noggin. The brochure says it’s very relaxing, and you may fall asleep. I’ve now tried it three times and am clenching my fists and counting the minutes until it turns off because I perceive it as damned painful. Perhaps that explains my outsized fear of innocent bees, a low pain threshold.

Mom thinks of Jerry’s children as her ‘step children’ so she wanted to go to Lexington VA to visit David and his son Jacob. She particularly wanted me to see his lovely house, and I said sure, let’s go. I e mailed Alison and invited her along, so mom and I began the trip by flying directly from Kelowna to Toronto.

We were picked up at the airport by JT and Alison and taken to their comfortable Victorian house on Summerhill Ave. That’s only the second time I’ve stayed there yet I feel perfectly at home. Any house with a commercial-grade coffee maker is my kind of place.

On Sunday the weather was warm and sunny, so the four of us spent the late morning and early afternoon driving through the Ontario countryside looking at the foliage. We had a picnic beside a burbling creek. Later back home JT barbecued a turkey and we had Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, and were joined by their son Paul.

We were flying from the Billy Bishop airport to Dulles, so didn’t have to leave quite so early for our flight as it’s not very far away. The flight left at 10:30 and by 11:30 we were already landing. We rented a car and then looked for the signs for Shenandoah National Park.

This is a huge park, and apparently contains one of the largest black bear populations in the US. We didn’t see any animals at all, but the views down into the the Valley along Skyline Drive were breathtaking. There are many overlooks, so we pulled over here and there, taking photos that couldn’t possibly capture what we saw.

We arrived at David’s around dinner time, and he was in the final stages of preparing the guest rooms for our visit. He said there were three choices. One was the living room couch, the second Zoe’s bedroom upstairs, and the third a room with en suite over the garage. I could see it was time to exert some influence over what could become a precarious situation.

I said I doubted I could sleep in the living room, given the vast amount of space between it and the bathroom. But I said could cope with that if needed, it just meant everyone had to be out of the living room by 8:30 PM and I didn’t want any noise early in the morning.

Naturally this produced resistance due to the early hour people would have to vacate the living room. Alison bravely said she’d sleep in the living room. I said mom can’t really go through a cluttered, dark garage and upstairs to a room, so it was settled she’d get Zoe’s old room, and I got the little suite above the garage. Sweet!

The rest of the visit to Lexington involved visiting the historic downtown, touring Stonewall Jackson’s house, seeing Robert E Lee’s sarcophagus at the Washington and Lee University and touring a landmark called Natural Bridge. The weather was sunny and very warm the whole time.

David made gourmet dinners for us each night except for one when we went to The Red Hen for dinner. By Friday it was time to reverse our trip and make our way to Toronto. The next day, giddy with joy over the impending election, we made our way back to BC. And then, joy of joys, we won!