Spring Clean Up

One of the biggest jobs outside is the spring clean up. So this week I began the task of raking up previous years leaves and grass cuttings. I started on Wednesday and the first picture shows how much I accomplished first time out . I began at the Maple on the side of the house, which the City is supposed to be removing for us and managed to get half way down the length of the house on the East side.

The following day I began at the same Maple but this time worked towards the avenue. These photos do not really give a true idea of how much leaves and grass is actually being raked up.

Friday I gave my body a rest and began again today, Saturday. I finished raking under the spruce, again this tree will be removed, and worked towards the Maple in the corner, which the City will prune for us. I cleaned from the sidewalk around the power pole and Maple creating another pile of leaves etc.


My efforts for today were not complete, I began raking the other direction across the front of the property. I cleaned under the Spruce and the other side of the Maple and worked towards the next Maple tree. By this time I was beginning to ache so decided to try another activity.


Still in the front yard. Having no success finding the ice chipper, Richard probably locked it in the shed and I don't have a key, I use the ice chipper in the Spring and Summer as an edging tool, I made do with the spade. We wanted to know how far our front sidewalk went and so I scraped out the overgrown lawn edges only to find out that it does not go very far from the step near the Maple trees. There is a chance there could be another step here and I need to dig down further to find the path but I don't think that is the case.
As I was already in the front with the spade I figured it would be a good idea to the lawn at the front sidewalk. This is my efforts for today, there is a good six to eight inches of grass grown onto the sidewalk. I worked back to the same level as my pile of raked leaves and called it a day. I'll suffer tomorrow for my efforts but seeing the yard beginning to look clean and a little cared for is well worth the pain of the next few days. It's weird but I have always done the raking from the moment I first lived in a house with a garden. Neither my first husband nor Richard have ever been predisposed to do any raking, without my efforts it would never get done. Come to think of it I believe I did a lot of the raking when I was a child too.

A Visit from Ian

This picture was taken yesterday morning (April 16th). At 8:00 am the phone rang; it was Ian "had we had breakfast yet?" No we hadn't so he asked us to wait and he would be here in about and hour and a half.

He had taken the Greyhound bus from Calgary to Saskatoon to purchase a truck he had seen advertised. An acquaintance had checked the vehicle out for him once Ian had a good report he agreed to purchase the truck. So here he was in Saskatoon just over an hour away from us.

I was so excited. Our children do not visit very often and I miss them all so very much. To have one of them, out of the blue, tell us they will be at the house within the two hours was wonderful.

Once here we headed out to Smitty's for breakfast and had a great time visiting. Discussing his work and how happy we are living here in Prince Albert. The shame was he could not stay long as he was on duty the next day. Once we were back at our house he took a short nap and then had a shower. Richard and Ian took a quick spin in the new vehicle going to NAPA for an air filter and Richard needed a replacement for the sledge hammer he had purchase from Canadian Tire just the other day, the handle had split on him. So they took Ian's truck and ran their errands.

It was sad that he could only stay for a short time, but I would take just a short quick visit like that than the years of not seeing any of our children.

This is one happy Mum still basking in the visit from her son.

Work or not to work

My plan, once we had settled, was to find a job where I could work just three days a week, preferably Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

I had seen a bookkeeping position advertised for quite some time, at least since January. The company were looking for someone with just basic bookkeeping skills and about three years of experience. As it was a full-time position I kept passing it by. I got to thinking about it and thought I could probably do the job in three days each week. I decided that I would offer my services but for three days a week. I felt I had more experience than they were looking for and was sure I could do the work in less time. Knowing that the industry they were in would not really have very much work in the winter.

I phoned the company, went for an initial interview. It sounded like they would be willing to make the position part-time. I left the interview feeling very confident, they wanted to check my references before proceeding any further.

I received a phone call the following week asking me to come back to discuss the position and wages. He had spoken to my previous employers and said that to his enquiry they informed him I had left very good manuals for that position. At once bells began to ring. Why would he want to know if I left manuals on how to do my job? What bearing did that have on the position he was offering?

Anyway I went to chat with him again, this time he had me write a test. I was not impressed but took his test. After checking my answers we talked again about the position.

This is what he finally offered me. For $15 an hour he would want me to complete the previous years Financial Statements and clean up the mess that had been left by the previous person. She had left in July and their year end was November. He expected me to complete this in three weeks. He wanted me to write a manual for the position with a completion deadline of five maybe six months. Plus keep the everyday work up to date. All for the grand wage of $15.00 an hour. If I meet his deadlines he would bonus me back $5 an hour for the first deadline and then maybe another $3 or $4 an hour after the next deadline.

None of this sat well with me. There was no safeguard for me, he could utilize all my abilities and not like what I do or put other hurdles in the way. There was no guarantee that he would actually pay me a final wage of $23 or $24 an hour. Not only did I feel completely insulted by his offer but felt his intent was to use me. Once he had what he needed that would be the end of the position for me. Of course he did mention other perks such as cost plus 10% on any stock items I purchased; and the company gas credit card once in a while if I used my car for company business. Both of these items I would expect.

He kept telling me he had been burned in the past and did not intend to have that happen again. He also told me he had another person he was thinking of hiring but she would take more training than I would and was looking for full-time work. I told him I don't have to work I was just looking to get out of the house for a few days each week.

My final decision was; thank you but no thank you. I told him $15 an hour was far too low even with the possible bonuses.

I was not putting myself it that sort of position where he held all the cards. As for the other person who he was considering hiring, obviously a fabrication, in the week-end paper was an advert for the bookkeeping position. I'm not so desperate for work that I would take a position that paid me almost $10 an hour under what I believe I'm worth.