Quickie: They Know They’re Starving Us

Whenever the discussion of the struggles people on ODSP deal with come up, there is always this underlying idea that the people in charge of making the decisions don’t know exactly how bad the situation is.

While there is some truth to that, in that they don’t understand on an emotional – have lived through it – level of what it’s like, the truth of the matter is that it’s not unknown to them as we might like to pretend. That thought hit me this month when I received my January Check a week early, just before Christmas.

It happens every year at this time. Whereas normally we receive our money on the last business day of the month, in December, we receive it the last business day before Christmas. Continue reading “Quickie: They Know They’re Starving Us”

Quickie: They Know They’re Starving Us
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Littlefoot Farms

Leaving Ottawa meant leaving behind a whole community and network of people. I’ve learned how important those networks can be, especially for someone like me, so it’s been really important to me to rebuild them for myself in this new region.

One of my favourite discoveries and people so far has been this amazing farm store Littlefoot Farms and its owner Sandy.

My parents actually told me about this place practically the same week I moved here. They were raving about how great it was, but I completely misunderstood at first and thought it was like the market and only on certain days and early in the morning. Actually it’s an actual little shop with pretty hours that are much more manageable than just mornings lol.

Hilariously, my first actual meeting with Sandy wasn’t about her shop, but about my quail.

Continue reading “Littlefoot Farms”

Littlefoot Farms

Baba Yaga’s School For Abandoned Girls (Part 4)

(Find chapter 3 here)

The information when it finally arrived came from a venerable lake sturgeon. His barbells were long and curled like the stately mustache of a Hussar, and his pointed back-plates were the deep grey of distant mountains that looked almost like winged armour.

“Roderyk Aleksander, Polkovnik of the Clan Sturgeon, at my ladies’ service.” He introduced himself, straight-backed enough to make any military man proud. “I was on my afternoon patrol when I spotted a foreign soldier riding away from the lake with a large bundle. I particularly noticed the cloud of spent magic he was trailing. Us sturgeons are very sensitive to that sort of thing.” He reported.

“…and?” asked Amaltheia impatiently.

Continue reading “Baba Yaga’s School For Abandoned Girls (Part 4)”

Baba Yaga’s School For Abandoned Girls (Part 4)

I May Never Buy Bacon Again

No, I haven’t given up meat, or pork. Instead earlier this month and basically for the last week, I’ve started making my own bacon.

A good friend of mine received a bit of a Christmas bonus and decided to treat friends to some gifts. Her gift to me was an A-Maze-N smoker, which is this cool little box that you can put in your grill these people at the grill store in Ottawa had told me about.

It basically works by creating a little maze out of metal through which you thread a bunch of wooden pellets. The pellets burn around the maze letting it smoke for upwards of 8 hours. Here is the cool thing: because the pellets burn at a relatively low heat, it’s functionally both a hot AND COLD smoker. Yup! That’s right. I can COLD SMOKE things now. Continue reading “I May Never Buy Bacon Again”

I May Never Buy Bacon Again