“The RoseBouquet”

We’re having an extra busy week. On Monday we attended the funeral of Minnie, a delightful woman from our church. Yesterday we were in the city to do some shopping, because we are expecting company from B.C. My nephew Jasel Peters is to arrive either today or tomorrow, and will be staying with us until after the funeral for his other grandpa in the next town north of us, Rosthern. His sister Jalise and her husband and two young kids are driving out, and will be on the road all of today and tomorrow. They are presently booked to stay with a cousin, but will be visiting here too. Naturally, Dad and I will attend Bill Peters’ funeral as well.

Besides that, the five days of heavy rain last week have raised the water table so that we have about 6-8 inches of water in the potato pit in our cold storage room! The pit is just a hole about 3 x 5 feet, and about 3 feet deep, dug down through the cement floor and lined with heavy plywood. It is not cement-lined, which explains why the water can get in so easily.

Dad borrowed a sump pump, but it hasn’t really worked, so the last two days, we’ve worked together to bail out the water and pour it down the sewer. It’s a good thing Dad didn’t just pour the potatoes into the pit this time, but kept them in large buckets; so they have not been damaged and were easy to lift out.

I’ve already suggested to Dad that we ask Jasel for advice. He’s been trained as an architect, and although that means mainly drawing up plans for buildings, I’m sure they also learn a lot about sound structures for a building, and maybe even how to solve problems like this.

Our neighbour’s house, just three yards over has the same problem. On Monday evening there were three men shoveling their broken, mucky cement floor out the window and into a truck.

So yes, flooding of homes happens even on the flat prairie lands, but we have so much to be grateful for, and taking time out to spend with “the kids” and “their kids” is bouying us up. Jalise often refers to our place as “home.” We look forward to their visit home!