麻豆传媒AV

A break in the weather at last, and we're not getting as much snow as many other places. New York City has had 40 inches of snow in 2014. England's floods are also unreal and putting a strain on all resources. It is the wettest that it's been for 300 years and with winds of 130 km/h. Those storms that keep recurring in the northeast United States had an accident scene that didn't entail "so many vehicles" but was 13 kilometres long.

The sundogs in the eastern sky Thursday, last week, were the biggest and brightest I have ever seen. They were as bright as the best rainbows, with every color. That was about 9:30 a.m. and they reached right to the ground. The cloud formation contributed to the show.

One spectator in Sochi said it would take one month's wages to get her in to watch the figure skating, so she watched on TV like a lot of the world did.

At Fort McMurray there is so much salt on the streets that you get your car dirty even when it's -30 C.

I always like it when something I have mentioned is appreciated by a reader. Last week's picture of the stone fence brought the remark that "my father and his father" built a long stone fence like that in Scotland many years ago, by Mary Tait.

The next music jamboree in Medstead is to be on Feb. 23. It's a nice way to spend a few hours, starting at 2 p.m.

The Mayfair plays are next weekend for those who have tickets already. This is always exciting as the players each have their own microphone so you hear them all and don't miss the punch line.

Shuffleboard was played Monday afternoon followed by chit chat.

Contract Bridge was played at the Do Drop In Monday evening with top scores by Maurice Bru and second by Larry Greenwald.

From Down Under, Joyce, in OZ was proud of being able to organize their flight from Brisbane to Melbourne and rent a car, all on her iPad. She sends pictures back that way, too. They had a nice tour of the city of Bendigo, with its beautiful cathedral and another building with fancy turrets and a lovely fountain in the city center. They visited friends of Linda's at Bendigo. At an inland motel at Echuca, they got a three-bedroom suite with sitting room, TV , table and chairs and even a swimming pool, for $125. The job of driving on the left side of the road and the many traffic circles and unsure of where they're going is pretty stressful for the driver. Their next stop was at Port Campbell after driving along the Ocean Front Road. They stopped overnight at Port Campbell.

Before the other two girls arrived at Brisbane, Joyce took a bus, then a train to Port of Brisbane where she joined friends for a 90-minute ferry ride, to Moreton Island. Once there they drove around a good part of the island that is composed of deep, loose sand and can only be travelled by 4x4s. It was rough, bumpy and narrow for most part but still rather a cool experience. They drove many miles along the shoreline which was smooth as glass, and fun. The trail is not well marked and they did some back tracking, but made it back in time to catch the ferry back to the mainland.

A report from my granddaughter Sonya Bouvier, of Calgary, after her trip with Craig Johnson, to Puerto Vallarta in January. They met a couple they knew the first day down there. Travelling by bus was cheap, only about a dollar for two, each trip. One hundred pesos cost $8. They toured downtown this way. They took the "Hidden Mexico" tour to a botanical garden, a graveyard, to see 3,000-year-old rock carvings and a tree with daisy-like flowers. They visited a small town hidden in the hills, a cute church that was clean and full of flowers and a small cheese factory. They saw a tequila factory that was a building with only two walls. It was interesting to see them turn the Agave plant into alcohol. The traffic lights were rather dim so they crossed streets with the crowd rather than try to figure them out. A large iguana lived in the pool area and they'd see him sunning himself in the afternoon sun and eating the trees. A couple of small geckos were also seen scurrying up a wall.

In Canada, a family of six people would buy six plots at the cemetery, but in Mexico they buy only one plot and bury up to six people in it, one above the other. The family builds an altar sort of top, some plain and some fancy, where they can put flowers and pictures and such. If one had a family pet it might be sacrificed and buried with you to be your guide into heaven. Then afterwards the people who followed would be met by the first person who went. Once all the family was gone and there was no one to take care of the site, it would be dug up and disposed of and the site resold. Oct. 31, the gates of heaven are opened at midnight and the spirits of the dead are reunited with their families for 24 hours. Nov. 1 and 2 are known as the days of the dead celebration. Nov. 1 for children gone and the Nov. 2 for adults. Only on this day are you allowed to take alcohol into the graveyard to have a drink with loved ones who have passed on. This is a tradition from the Aztecs. The Catholic faith is predominant and at one time other practices were restricted.

An old friend of our family, Ken Parker, from Olds, Alta. has sent word of his experiences in China, where he is visiting. Ken grew up in the Idylwild district northwest of Spiritwood and has been a professor at the Olds School of Agriculture for many years. While there he sponsored a young Chinese student, who is now working at a good job in Edmonton, Alta. Yi Liang wanted to return this favour so invited Ken to go home with him for this month, when he was on holidays. Ken taught school in China for four or five years after retiring, so he is renewing acquaintances and meeting new ones. The main topic in the papers and on TV is the terrible smog over the city of Beijing, where Ken is. He is enjoying again, the many plates of various foods that each meal entails, even in Yi's home he was served 10 plate meals. They attended the Temple Fair where it was so crowded you could not walk, but shuffle along with the crowd. It is holiday time to celebrate their national holiday, spring festival and New Year. There are fireworks every night and great celebrations going on.

There were seven million working people returning to the city for work Monday morning. All 10 subway lines, buses and streets were loaded with people. The car drivers will find the freeways and roads to be like parking lots. People living in Calgary who think traffic can be slow on Deerfoot Trail at times, should see the traffic over there. Ken will fly to Shanghai for one week before leaving and we may get another report from him there.

Ken is looking forward to returning to Canada to the clean air and space.