I mean this literally, there were many heavy rainstorms at the beginning of this week, and in between beautiful calm moments, with dark thick clouds moving around. Just ideal for some photo-sessions. And a good possibility for Antonia to discover a new passion: jumping into puddles of water. With normal shoes, rubber-boots, barefoot, with and without using hands, it does not matter, no puddle can be bypassed, but she needs to jump in and splash right through it. This week-end was also Juhannus, or mid-summer, a very big celebration day in Finland and luckily the weather was clearing up and it was warm and sunny this day. We were invited to friend's, and had barbecue, nice company, sauna with "swimming in the lake afterwards" - great. Antonia was playing with other children and having fun running around naked. Maybe best Juhannus ever :).
Antonia and me settle nicely, and due to the weather warming up we go occasionally swimming to the Blake Lake in Kitzbühel. It is the famous Schwarzsee where the high society meets, and it is not for the first time that we swim together with Arabella Kiesbauer. But for Antonia this is of less importance, more important is cousin Philipp for whom she develops a special weakness. He is the 12 year old son of my own cousin Sonja. “She likes me really, and I like her as well”, he tells. How nice. They play with each other at the playground leaving me some well-deserved piece. She touches his chin in the car as i see through the back-mirror from the driver's seat. My mother also joins regularly to the Black-Lake. Saturday is a specially hot day which we use to swim in the river “Ache” on the way to the restaurant “Alte Wacht”. Antonia stays a little too long in the ice-cold water, and cries heavily suddenly when her feet start to hurt. Antonia, Antonia, sorry but this blog I about her and serves the purpose of memory-keeping for us. So I go on… In the “Alte Wacht” she gets her Fritattensuppe – the only warm meal which we mange to give her on a regular basis. She is still heavily on the “suckies” and a bad eater all in all, but my feeling is that it is getting better. As I keep telling to myself already for a long time. Her German improves and she exchanges “heihei” with “tschüss” and “ei” with “nein”. This week we wait for Tanya who will arrive on Sunday.
By the end of February, the public works department spent $1.7 million on snow removal. That’s 81 percent of the budget for the entire year.
And that doesn’t include the big snowstorm in early March which saw road crews clearing waist high drifts from main county roads.
“This winter has been anything but average,” says Jim Kutyba, general manager of infrastructure and development in a report to council. “Public Works operations staff have worked steadily since early December, 2013 to maintain a safe driving environment on the County Road System…As a result, the budget developed for the three-year average winter has taken a beating thus far in 2014.”
With only $385,000 left in the 2014 snow removal budget, county staff estimated another $825,000 will be needed to clear snow next winter.
Much of that cash will come from a reserve budget. Some will come by delaying public works projects.
Plympton-Wyoming Mayor Lonny Napper says the heavy frost is wreaking havoc on the roads and the county may have the reassess what needs repairs.
“You may have to defer a lot more (planned) projects,” he says. “If you go down Churchill Line or Oil Heritage Road, they’re filled with potholes. This year is a very emergency situation. If those roads are not dealt with, we’re going to lose them. I think the whole road situation has to be reassessed.”
Kutyba says the county can reassess some of its projects, but a tough winter like this year will cause problems. Kutyba says the county spends about $10 million a year on projects, most of which comes from the federal gas tax. “We are not gaining on our roads so we do not need a year like this year,” he says.
“Road work is not getting cheaper…it’s eating away at those fixed dollars that roughly $10 million we put in each year.”
A member of the OPP’s Emergency Response Team has been charged with failing to stop after a collision while on they way to a bank robbery in Petrolia.
In a news release late Friday, the OPP says a fully-marked OPP Ford pickup truck was heading west on Petrolia Line going to the robbery at the CIBC Wednesday afternoon.It hit another small SUV going south on Oil Heritage Line at the intersection.
The driver of the SUV, a 32-year Plympton-Wyoming woman, suffered shoulder injuries and was treated at the hospital and released. Her two sons were in the vehicle with her.
Sgt. Peter Vanderheide, an 18-year member of the OPP, has been issued a provincial offences notices for failing to stop for a red light. The offence has a fine of $180 and carries three demerit points.
Image by Stuart Chalmers, FlickrIs your new ferret a little nippy? Are you not sure how to get him to stop? Keep reading to learn how to train your ferret to stop biting.
There are a few reasons why your ferret might be trying to bite you, but the primary reasons are attributed to play. Ferret's have high energy levels, and can get easily excited. When they play with each other, they play rough, so they often won't realize that biting hurts you.
They might also bite because of fear. If your ferret is scared, or being introduced to a new home, they might bite in self-defense. While you shouldn't let them get away with doing this, be sure that you don't hit them or hurt them in any way as it might make the problem worse.
Finally, they might bite because they're feeling depressed or bored. Ferret's are intelligent animals with lots of energy. For this reason, they need at least 2 hours of playtime outside of their cage each day. If they aren't getting the stimulation they need, you might see a change in their personality.
One good way to teach your ferret not to bite is to let him know that he's actually hurting you. Do this by emitting a loud "no!" or "ow!" when it bites, and pull away. Don't give the ferret any attention for a moment, and it might be able to realize that what it did is wrong. Whatever you do, don't hurt it or punish it physically. You'll send the wrong message.
"Time out" is another way to let your ferret know he's doing something wrong without physically punishing him. This time, if he bites you, immediately place him in his cage or inside a carrier. Leave him there, and don't give him any attention until he starts to calm down and exhibits better behavior. Once the ferret realizes that biting means "playtime's over", he should stop.
The final method involves no punishment at all. Simply wear gloves when you handle the ferret, so you won't get hurt if it bites you. When handling your ferret with these gloves, simply ignore the biting and continually pet the ferret. It lets them know that biting gets absolutely no reaction from you. Furthermore, they'll begin to associate your hands with good things. Once the biting stops, remove one glove and handle the ferret with your bare hand. Pet them, give them treats, and rub their feet, but be careful of nipping.
While you're in the process of training, be sure to reward your ferret for any good behavior. Reward with a treat, praise, and play time.
Once your ferret is done biting, you'll be able to snuggle and play with it without a worry. Reward your ferret for any good behavior, and be sure not to hit him or physically punish him when he bites you.