What is The Sheepdog? It's a newsletter/blog that is in its early beginnings. You will find me promoting my historical novel Forever Shales, but I will be writing articles of interest as well. Every month I'll write a new issue, and the printed version, which is limited to 100 printed copies and may differ slightly from this blog, is given out at various locations around Windsor, Nova Scotia. D.Berkeley
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Sheepdog’s Excerpt from my novel Forever Shales
We arrived later that day, in a somewhat mud-spattered carriage, at 15 Darnley Road. I gazed at the old place, which was set a bit further back from the road than the newer, terraced dwellings, called villas, which lay close to the road. It looked to be quite large, though the narrow end fronted the road, and the actual front of the house was set a short distance back, somewhat behind the terraced villas. Edmund attached my lead to my collar. We went along the path and up the steps, and there he lifted the heavy knocker – tap-tap . . . tap-tap. The front door opened almost immediately.
“Oh, Master Edmund! Welcome home. Your father is waiting for you in his study,” said an excited Armstrong. The housemaid then stooped to fondle my face, and she greeted me thus: “Shales, you lovely dog. Aren’t you handsome . . . the handsomest dog in Hackney? And Darnley Road, as well as Cassland Road!”
I jumped on her, and nearly head-butted her on the nose. I was excited and could hardly contain myself. After wiping her face with the hem of her apron she unhooked my lead, which she carefully hung next to Edmund’s hat, and without a backward glance I trotted off to explore the new residence. I discovered it had lots of rooms, but best of all, the furniture was familiar, as well as all the ornaments and carpets. It had obviously been fetched from the Cassland Road residence. A short time later, the men who’d driven the removal van began to empty it of its contents and carried the entire lot into the house. Jessie gave orders as to where each large item was to be placed, and Armstrong dashed about with a duster and a pot of polish. The other sisters peered into the straw-filled crates and removed the packed items. There were a lot of silver-framed photos as well as piles of loose ones, stacks of books, boxes of music sheets, and a lot of china, silver, and glass.
The house was in a happy mood, and so was I.
* * *
I’d only been living in Darnley Road a couple of days, and hadn’t even had the opportunity to leave the confines of the garden and have a proper walk along any of the nearby streets and roads, when news came about Thomas. I’ve already told you that Thomas, Maud, and their baby had returned to their home in Bush Hill Park about a fortnight previously. A telegram of the utmost importance arrived at our new residence concerning him. It was early evening, and the family had just finished their dinner, and we had all withdrawn to retire and let our meal settle. Silly me, I’d had my hopes up that Thomas was summoning me to go and visit with him, seeing that we had moved away from Wayletts. Why I had ever thought that, I do not know. It is what I had hoped the telegram would reveal. Augustus waited for Armstrong, our housemaid, to leave the room and close the door behind her. The telegram was held lightly in his hand. When he opened it, which he did with great solemnity in front of the family, he first read it quietly to himself, and then handed it over to Edmund to read aloud.
“Oh, dear!” Edmund moaned, angling the paper to get the best light from the ceiling-lamp. “It’s from Maud, and she says here that Thomas has been taken ill and that a doctor has been summoned.”
He looked at his father, and appearing to be uncomfortable, rubbed the back of his neck. From the tone of his voice, I knew my own disappointment, so I flopped down rather heavily upon a familiar carpet that had resided at the Cassland Road residence, wondering what was to happen next. I feared that Thomas was once again in trouble, and I looked about for someplace to hide.
Augustus sternly looked at Edmund as if he were in any way responsible for his own brother’s ailment. “Thomas has been working this week while we have been removing ourselves from Stanford Rivers, but you went over to the office today in Stoke Newington to see how things were. Was he not there?”
He sounded angry, and I cringed inwardly at the harsh tone of his voice. I wondered if I ought to slither away to the next room, or to blend in with the pattern of the carpet and listen to Thomas’s fate.
Edmund looked guilty as he replied, “No, Father. Well, I mean yes, he had been there up until today, but I understood he was coming in later. I had no idea he was so ill, and I’m as surprised as you are.”
All eyes, including my own, were upon Edmund, whose handsome face looked rather worried. Poor Edmund had wanted to keep Thomas in his father’s good books . . . Forever Shales is a 472 page historical novel written by me, Deborah Berkeley. Signed copies can be purchased at Our Mother’s Keepers, 85 Water Street, Windsor, or at www.Amazon.ca.. Published by Melrose Books.com
BUY NOW AT AMAZON
Sheepdog's Tit-bit
What should we call the ancient Britons?
What should we call the ancient Britons? There is no evidence that the people of ancient Britain or Ireland ever referred to themselves as Celts, like we do today, and there are no ancient writings in existence that refer to them as Celts, although we know that their ancestors migrated to the islands from mainland Europe. Neither the Romans nor the Greeks ever used “Celt” in their descriptions of the islanders. However, the term Celt was used by the Romans to describe the inhabitants of central Gaul. After the downfall of the Roman Empire, “Celt” and “Celtic” became forgotten words and did not come into use again for over a thousand years later, when in the 16th century Scottish scholar George Buchanan described the speech of the inhabitants of ancient Gaul as “Celtic”.
So what did the Ancient Britons call themselves, and what did they call their island? The oldest recorded name for the island of Britain comes from the sixth century B.C., when an explorer from the Greek colony of Massilia called the island “Albion”. Then, in 400 B.C., Avienus referred to the island of Britain as being “island of the Albions”.
Around the third century B.C. the Greek explorer Pytheas sailed around the British islands, made several landings, and called the islands “The Pretanic Isles”. However, he didn’t give any specific name to Britain, although he named the inhabitants the “Pretani”, which means “people who paint themselves”. Pretani is possibly derived from the Celtic tongue.
Did, then, the ancient Britons speak Albion, or Pretani? At the time of the Roman landings (Julius Caesar 54 B.C.) the Romans referred to the language the islanders spoke, a variant on the continental Celtic tongues, as Brythonic, or Brittonic, and they called the people Pretanni, or Brytanni. Julius Caesar and other Roman writers converted the ancient name Pretani into Britanni, and the island became known as Britannia, and later Britain.
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| Ancient Briton Warriors |
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| Celt Vercingetorix surrenders to Julius Caesar |
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| Ancient Briton Torque |
Bibliography – Ramon L Jimenez. Caesar Against The Celts: Castle Books, 1996.
Sheepdog's Adventure
Costa Rica
Costa Rica means “Rich Coast”. Although I have never been there, people say Costa Rica is a wonderful place to visit. My brother and his wife were there recently and they loved it, so I felt inspired to do a little research. Also, a Facebook friend of mine says she and her husband are planning on retiring in Cost Rica. Central America seems to be a magnet for Canadians. Many are retiring down there, and I even have friends who have permanently left Canada to retire in Panama. I’ve tried to cram why Costa Rica seems to be so attractive into a very short article:
Costa Rica is a country located in Central America. Its size is 742 miles in length and is no wider than 190 miles, and it is bordered on the north by Nicaragua, on the southeast by Panama, on the west by the Pacific Ocean, and to its east is found the Caribbean Ocean. It is a democracy, and has been since 8th November 1949. Many of its people are poor, so don't be shocked at the amount of poverty you will see, but tourism is essential to its economy. Its climate is rated tropical year round, but the country has mountains and deep valleys as well as sandy beaches, so micro-climates cause the weather conditions to vary from one region to the next. Unlike North America, its seasons are restricted to just two each year. Typically, summer lasts from December to April and winter lasts from May to November.
There are lots of things for the active tourist to do. In the capital city of San Jose, one can visit museums that are proud to show off the country’s pre-Columbian heritage, and there are lots of jazz clubs and fabulous restaurants. Then take a trip to Poas Volcano, just over an hour’s drive from San Jose. Peer down into its steaming crater from the observation centre near its summit. There are 5 active volcanoes in Costa Rica out of the 26 found in Central America. At the base of Arenal Volcano, one can hike trails, soak in hot springs, or go horseback riding. For bird watchers, there are over 850 recorded species of birds in Cost Rica, so you might want to visit the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve. Also at the reserve are interesting exhibits on bats, frogs and insects.
For surfers, there are excellent world-class surfing beaches, and for the diver there is world-class diving, where one can swim amongst manta rays and sharks (if you like that sort of thing!). Sports fishermen can catch marlin and sailfish, and although I didn’t read it anywhere, I’m sure the women’s sport of shopping is most excellent.
The country’s language is mostly Spanish (Costa Rican Spanish) - it was a Spanish Colony in the past.
 | ||
| Courtesy of Nat. Geographic |
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| Nat. Geographic photo of Arenal Volcano |
 | |||||
| In San Jose |
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| Night lights of San Jose |
 |
| Courtesy of Nat. Geographic |
For surfers, there are excellent world-class surfing beaches, and for the diver there is world-class diving, where one can swim amongst manta rays and sharks (if you like that sort of thing!). Sports fishermen can catch marlin and sailfish, and although I didn’t read it anywhere, I’m sure the women’s sport of shopping is most excellent.
 | ||
| The sport of navigating through a market |
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| Surrounding San Jose |
Visit www.visitcostarica.co. For more photos, check out National Geographic
My sources were National Geographic Traveller July/August 2009 issue.
Sheepdog's Favourite Quote
The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there. – L.P. Hartley
Sheepdog's Round-up
“Of course our well water is safe to drink!”
Introduction: One usually assumes that their well water is completely safe to drink, and it usually is. Most people don’t give it a second thought as they turn on the tap to fill the kettle, or drinking glass, especially if the water appears to be crystal clear. There are times when people need to take a sample of their well water and have it tested (buying or selling a house), but not always do these samples come back with a satisfactory result. Sometimes people find out that bacteria are present in their well water. If this happens it can be frightening, especially when they don’t understand what the words “total coliform” or “contamination” really mean. One must remember that bacteria are invisible to the naked eye, and just because a water sample may look to be crystal clear, it does not mean that it is free from parasites or bacteria. Groundwater, because of the layers of soil of overlying soil, gets filtered naturally and is usually safe to drink, meaning it’s usually free from the presence of disease-causing micro-organisms. It is important to understand that if bacteria are present in someone’s well, quite often the people are unaware of such conditions, but sometimes, says Patrick Stewart of Envirosphere Consultants Ltd in Windsor, “Once in a while bacteria in your well could be a sign of problems and a possible explanation for ongoing health issues.”
I write from experience, so I do know that wells can get contaminated from time to time, and sometimes quite often - depending on how much rainfall we’ve had. As many people often do, I used to hold a glass of water up to the window and say, “See! It’s clear - it’s good, safe water!” But I once learnt a serious lesson: I was living in New Brunswick and my husband and I were about to sell our house. The sale depended on the well’s water test coming back negative - and it didn’t! We were in shock. What had happened to our water? When we had bought the house the water had been declared safe, and we had a drilled well and drilled wells are supposed to be reliably safe, aren’t they?
Somehow, total coliform bacteria had got into our well water. There was a river and lake very close by, and it was a shallow drilled-well of about 100 feet; we wondered if this was the cause. The real estate agent asked us questions: “Do you feel unwell? Have you been suffering from headaches, or diarrhoea?” And like silly ‘whatevers’ my husband and I both answered “no”. Because of our ignorance regarding coliform bacteria we sort of panicked because we didn’t want to accept that there was anything wrong with our well, but I had been having peculiar headaches, more like tight bands surrounding my head. When they appeared I felt like I wanted to go outside and breathe in bucketfuls of fresh air, and I even accused the furnace of leaking deadly fumes, but after being inspected, it was given a clean bill of health. Whenever I bent over sideways to pick something up, it felt like there was a lump deep inside, which frightened me, but that came and went. Also, I felt excessively tired. Shall I mention the sudden surges of diarrhoea, usually when we were out shopping or away from home? I had actually thought I’d developed a sensitivity to pork, which seemed to go right through me, especially when it was cooked on the bbq! My husband had also suffered on and off, but except for the tiredness, he had more serious symptoms. He had even been in the hospital for tests for his illnesses, even for parasites - all coming back negative and confounding his doctors!
So, yes, we had been out of sorts on an off for well over a year. But now what were we to do about the contaminated water? We wanted to sell the house and move, and we were told the house could not sell until we fixed the problem; those were the regulations. Thanks to our real estate agent (thanks Phil M.) he suggested we install a water-treatment system. It was a UV light system, and we had it professionally installed. Right away the real estate agent ran the tap (to flush the pipes of any lingering bacteria), and took a water sample. How nice when it came back negative showing there was no longer any contamination in our well water, and the sale of our house went through. Even nicer was when two weeks later I realised I felt sooo goood in myself. I felt energised instead of the lethargy and sleepiness I’d struggled with, and there were no more peculiar headaches. The diarrhoea, as well as the tenderness in my sides, was gone! Only then did both of us really connect our health issues to our well water.
We had learnt a valuable lesson.
Then, a year later, my mother got sick. Because her symptoms sounded eerily familiar, I urged my parents to have their well water tested. It was hard to convince them to do it because their well is spring fed, which had given them a false sense of security over the years, believing that their water was always pure. Finally they gave in to my nagging. When they did have it tested, a low count of total coliform (not E. coli) was found. To prevent any further illnesses they installed a UV light system and have never suffered from those contaminated water symptoms again. I must stress, though, that my mother had been to the doctor several times, but not once did the doctor ask if she was drinking well water. Also, as with my husband, bacterial infections caused by total coliform did not seem to show up in any tests. It frightens me when I think of where this can lead to, especially if one has been plagued with symptoms on and off for many years: more hospital tests? Surgery? A close friend of mine, who lives in another province, has a serious problem with her heart. She has been warned by her cardiac physician that bacteria in her body could create life-threatening complications for her. A couple of years ago she wasn’t feeling well and her symptoms sounded familiar to me, so I told her just what I’ve told you. Sure enough, she found out that her well water had been making her ill.
Symptoms: One may experience soft stools or mild to severe diarrhoea, occurring on and off throughout the year, sometimes accompanied with stomach cramps, or perhaps not. Headaches where it feels like there is a band around your head and you feel “fuzzy” and need fresh air, a slight temperature, possibly increased urination, inflammation in bowels and intestines resulting in a feeling of tenderness when you bend sideways. You may also experience an unusual tiredness or excessive sleepiness (napping when one never used to nap), and a general lack of “go” in you (from your body fighting off an infection), and possibly aching bones. No two family members will suffer the same symptoms, and some people don’t seem to ever be affected whereas others can become quite ill. They may seek a doctor’s care, but he or she may not suspect the real cause of the symptoms.
Testing for Total Coliforms: When lab tests are done on well water samples it is to find whether or not there is a presence of coliform bacteria in your well. These “coliforms” occur naturally in the soil, but one species, Escherichia coli, commonly known as E. coli, can come from the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals; the combined occurrence of both types is known as Total Coliforms.
The performance of your well: Groundwater is more often than not naturally clean and safe for consumption because the overlying soil filters it. Contamination of your well may mean that your well is not performing the way it should: there may be a crack in your well-casing, or if your well is a shallow dug-well, the depth of soil may not be adequate enough to filter it properly. Contamination may occur after heavy rains, but after a few weeks of reasonably dry weather it may disappear only to return again after more heavy rainfalls.
E. Coli: Should you be told that your well has tested positive for E. coli, this is a serious problem, as the presence of E. coli in any well usually means it is faecal in origin. The source may be sludge from your septic-system, faeces from family pets, or perhaps livestock or poultry manure. If E. coli is found, there is cause for great concern since we humans share various diseases with other warm-blooded animals. An E. coli presence in your well water can give you an increased risk of contracting a disease, virus, bacterial infection, or possibly parasites.
Testing: Environment Canada suggests you test your well water regularly, two or three times a year. If you are on a drilled well I’d still get it done once in a while, just to be safe. In Nova Scotia, if you are purchasing a home that is on a well, your bank will request that the well water be tested.
Fixing the problem: One can either pour bleach down their well (amount is determined by quantity of water in well) and “shock” the well, or they can purchase an ultra-violet light system that will kill all types of coliform bacteria without leaving any aesthetic effects (see www.evowater.ca). There are businesses that will provide and install one for you, for a price; the light has to be replaced in them yearly (recommended), but it leaves your drinking water worry-free. I have one, and I know quite a few people who have had them installed. Health Canada approves of the UV systems and works closely with NSF International to develop standards for these water-treatment systems. There is another way, and that is to do what people did before modern times, and that is to boil all water before drinking it. However, you have to boil it at a rolling boil long enough to kill all the bacteria.
Boiling water: If you boil it long enough it will kill any bacteria or parasites in it. It sounds easy: “We put the kettle on all the time!” But modern electric kettles turn off just after they reach a rolling boil. We bring vegetables to the boil and then we turn down the heat and simmer them. That isn’t hot enough to kill all types of bacteria and parasites – yes, parasites. I have heard two minutes to ten minutes, so I did a bit of internet research. New York State only recommends, if there is a “boil order”, for towns people to boil their tap water for 2 minutes. The International Red Cross recommends you boil any contaminated drinking water (at a rolling boil) for at least five minutes. Any people living in towns where they have been put on a “boil” order will be familiar with the inconvenience, although recommended times for how long to boil their water may vary from town to town and country to country.
Do you want to have your well water tested? You will find several water testing labs in the Halifax/Dartmouth area, or you can have your water tested in Windsor at Envirosphere Consultants Limited, 120 Morrison Dr. (798-4022) You can pick up sample bottles (you cannot use your own container) at the Valley Regional and Hants County Hospital as well as at other Valley hospitals.
My online sources were:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coliform_bacteria
2. www.evowater.ca
3. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/1/8
4 http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/water-eau/well-puits-eng.php(Health Canada)
Dog Boarding. Board your dog in a non-traditional kennel. At Forever Shales there are just 3 kennels, so less dogs means less noise and more attention for your dog. Daily walks are included in the boarding price, and there is a fenced-yard directly off the kennel room. Kennel room is attached to the house and is not a separate building, and it is partially carpeted and decorated in bright colours. Deborah Berkeley 757-0744 South Rawdon.
Dog Obedience Classes. Paws and Claws offers dog obedience classes and puppy classes in Ardoise. Ask for Heather at 757-1730 email: pawsandclaws10@gmail.com
Dog Agility Classes. Want something to do with your dog after the obedience classes are over? Try agility – it’s fun for both dog and owner, and you get to build on your dog’s obedience skills. Classes are in S. Rawdon at Lietash. Ask for Bob at 757-0929.
Our Mother’s Keepers. Check out this lovely store located at 85 Water Street, Windsor. Leesa sells products that are for ‘soul and planet’. Drop in and visit her and her cats, and check out the handcrafted products she has for sale – some are locally made. She also sells copies of Forever Shales. Thank you Leesa, for handing out copies of The Sheepdog.
Tan Coffee. Thank you for allowing me to leave copies of The Sheepdog in your lovely café for people to read. It is very much appreciated. People, please drop into Tan’s on Water Street, Windsor, and have a coffee and a bite to eat.
Daniels Flower Shop. Thank you for handing out copies of The Sheepdog. The appreciation of flowers is a deep reflection of what is inside one’s heart. Please go to Daniels, 40 Water Street, Windsor, and appreciate that special person in your life. 798-5337
I write from experience, so I do know that wells can get contaminated from time to time, and sometimes quite often - depending on how much rainfall we’ve had. As many people often do, I used to hold a glass of water up to the window and say, “See! It’s clear - it’s good, safe water!” But I once learnt a serious lesson: I was living in New Brunswick and my husband and I were about to sell our house. The sale depended on the well’s water test coming back negative - and it didn’t! We were in shock. What had happened to our water? When we had bought the house the water had been declared safe, and we had a drilled well and drilled wells are supposed to be reliably safe, aren’t they?
Somehow, total coliform bacteria had got into our well water. There was a river and lake very close by, and it was a shallow drilled-well of about 100 feet; we wondered if this was the cause. The real estate agent asked us questions: “Do you feel unwell? Have you been suffering from headaches, or diarrhoea?” And like silly ‘whatevers’ my husband and I both answered “no”. Because of our ignorance regarding coliform bacteria we sort of panicked because we didn’t want to accept that there was anything wrong with our well, but I had been having peculiar headaches, more like tight bands surrounding my head. When they appeared I felt like I wanted to go outside and breathe in bucketfuls of fresh air, and I even accused the furnace of leaking deadly fumes, but after being inspected, it was given a clean bill of health. Whenever I bent over sideways to pick something up, it felt like there was a lump deep inside, which frightened me, but that came and went. Also, I felt excessively tired. Shall I mention the sudden surges of diarrhoea, usually when we were out shopping or away from home? I had actually thought I’d developed a sensitivity to pork, which seemed to go right through me, especially when it was cooked on the bbq! My husband had also suffered on and off, but except for the tiredness, he had more serious symptoms. He had even been in the hospital for tests for his illnesses, even for parasites - all coming back negative and confounding his doctors!
So, yes, we had been out of sorts on an off for well over a year. But now what were we to do about the contaminated water? We wanted to sell the house and move, and we were told the house could not sell until we fixed the problem; those were the regulations. Thanks to our real estate agent (thanks Phil M.) he suggested we install a water-treatment system. It was a UV light system, and we had it professionally installed. Right away the real estate agent ran the tap (to flush the pipes of any lingering bacteria), and took a water sample. How nice when it came back negative showing there was no longer any contamination in our well water, and the sale of our house went through. Even nicer was when two weeks later I realised I felt sooo goood in myself. I felt energised instead of the lethargy and sleepiness I’d struggled with, and there were no more peculiar headaches. The diarrhoea, as well as the tenderness in my sides, was gone! Only then did both of us really connect our health issues to our well water.
We had learnt a valuable lesson.
Then, a year later, my mother got sick. Because her symptoms sounded eerily familiar, I urged my parents to have their well water tested. It was hard to convince them to do it because their well is spring fed, which had given them a false sense of security over the years, believing that their water was always pure. Finally they gave in to my nagging. When they did have it tested, a low count of total coliform (not E. coli) was found. To prevent any further illnesses they installed a UV light system and have never suffered from those contaminated water symptoms again. I must stress, though, that my mother had been to the doctor several times, but not once did the doctor ask if she was drinking well water. Also, as with my husband, bacterial infections caused by total coliform did not seem to show up in any tests. It frightens me when I think of where this can lead to, especially if one has been plagued with symptoms on and off for many years: more hospital tests? Surgery? A close friend of mine, who lives in another province, has a serious problem with her heart. She has been warned by her cardiac physician that bacteria in her body could create life-threatening complications for her. A couple of years ago she wasn’t feeling well and her symptoms sounded familiar to me, so I told her just what I’ve told you. Sure enough, she found out that her well water had been making her ill.
Symptoms: One may experience soft stools or mild to severe diarrhoea, occurring on and off throughout the year, sometimes accompanied with stomach cramps, or perhaps not. Headaches where it feels like there is a band around your head and you feel “fuzzy” and need fresh air, a slight temperature, possibly increased urination, inflammation in bowels and intestines resulting in a feeling of tenderness when you bend sideways. You may also experience an unusual tiredness or excessive sleepiness (napping when one never used to nap), and a general lack of “go” in you (from your body fighting off an infection), and possibly aching bones. No two family members will suffer the same symptoms, and some people don’t seem to ever be affected whereas others can become quite ill. They may seek a doctor’s care, but he or she may not suspect the real cause of the symptoms.
Testing for Total Coliforms: When lab tests are done on well water samples it is to find whether or not there is a presence of coliform bacteria in your well. These “coliforms” occur naturally in the soil, but one species, Escherichia coli, commonly known as E. coli, can come from the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals; the combined occurrence of both types is known as Total Coliforms.
The performance of your well: Groundwater is more often than not naturally clean and safe for consumption because the overlying soil filters it. Contamination of your well may mean that your well is not performing the way it should: there may be a crack in your well-casing, or if your well is a shallow dug-well, the depth of soil may not be adequate enough to filter it properly. Contamination may occur after heavy rains, but after a few weeks of reasonably dry weather it may disappear only to return again after more heavy rainfalls.
E. Coli: Should you be told that your well has tested positive for E. coli, this is a serious problem, as the presence of E. coli in any well usually means it is faecal in origin. The source may be sludge from your septic-system, faeces from family pets, or perhaps livestock or poultry manure. If E. coli is found, there is cause for great concern since we humans share various diseases with other warm-blooded animals. An E. coli presence in your well water can give you an increased risk of contracting a disease, virus, bacterial infection, or possibly parasites.
Testing: Environment Canada suggests you test your well water regularly, two or three times a year. If you are on a drilled well I’d still get it done once in a while, just to be safe. In Nova Scotia, if you are purchasing a home that is on a well, your bank will request that the well water be tested.
Fixing the problem: One can either pour bleach down their well (amount is determined by quantity of water in well) and “shock” the well, or they can purchase an ultra-violet light system that will kill all types of coliform bacteria without leaving any aesthetic effects (see www.evowater.ca). There are businesses that will provide and install one for you, for a price; the light has to be replaced in them yearly (recommended), but it leaves your drinking water worry-free. I have one, and I know quite a few people who have had them installed. Health Canada approves of the UV systems and works closely with NSF International to develop standards for these water-treatment systems. There is another way, and that is to do what people did before modern times, and that is to boil all water before drinking it. However, you have to boil it at a rolling boil long enough to kill all the bacteria.
Boiling water: If you boil it long enough it will kill any bacteria or parasites in it. It sounds easy: “We put the kettle on all the time!” But modern electric kettles turn off just after they reach a rolling boil. We bring vegetables to the boil and then we turn down the heat and simmer them. That isn’t hot enough to kill all types of bacteria and parasites – yes, parasites. I have heard two minutes to ten minutes, so I did a bit of internet research. New York State only recommends, if there is a “boil order”, for towns people to boil their tap water for 2 minutes. The International Red Cross recommends you boil any contaminated drinking water (at a rolling boil) for at least five minutes. Any people living in towns where they have been put on a “boil” order will be familiar with the inconvenience, although recommended times for how long to boil their water may vary from town to town and country to country.
Do you want to have your well water tested? You will find several water testing labs in the Halifax/Dartmouth area, or you can have your water tested in Windsor at Envirosphere Consultants Limited, 120 Morrison Dr. (798-4022) You can pick up sample bottles (you cannot use your own container) at the Valley Regional and Hants County Hospital as well as at other Valley hospitals.
My online sources were:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coliform_bacteria
2. www.evowater.ca
3. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/1/8
4 http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/water-eau/well-puits-eng.php(Health Canada)
Dog Boarding. Board your dog in a non-traditional kennel. At Forever Shales there are just 3 kennels, so less dogs means less noise and more attention for your dog. Daily walks are included in the boarding price, and there is a fenced-yard directly off the kennel room. Kennel room is attached to the house and is not a separate building, and it is partially carpeted and decorated in bright colours. Deborah Berkeley 757-0744 South Rawdon.
Dog Obedience Classes. Paws and Claws offers dog obedience classes and puppy classes in Ardoise. Ask for Heather at 757-1730 email: pawsandclaws10@gmail.com
Dog Agility Classes. Want something to do with your dog after the obedience classes are over? Try agility – it’s fun for both dog and owner, and you get to build on your dog’s obedience skills. Classes are in S. Rawdon at Lietash. Ask for Bob at 757-0929.
Our Mother’s Keepers. Check out this lovely store located at 85 Water Street, Windsor. Leesa sells products that are for ‘soul and planet’. Drop in and visit her and her cats, and check out the handcrafted products she has for sale – some are locally made. She also sells copies of Forever Shales. Thank you Leesa, for handing out copies of The Sheepdog.
Tan Coffee. Thank you for allowing me to leave copies of The Sheepdog in your lovely café for people to read. It is very much appreciated. People, please drop into Tan’s on Water Street, Windsor, and have a coffee and a bite to eat.
Daniels Flower Shop. Thank you for handing out copies of The Sheepdog. The appreciation of flowers is a deep reflection of what is inside one’s heart. Please go to Daniels, 40 Water Street, Windsor, and appreciate that special person in your life. 798-5337
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