Happy to be Canadian
Each week I share a short original story about life in rural Canada. There are moments of nostalgia and other times when you will be wondering what will happen next. Some episodes are poignant, some are funny, others are insightful. All are short. With episodes under 10 minutes, you have just enough time to finish your coffee or tea while you enjoy a memorable story.
Episodes
72 episodes
Line Up for School - Episode 72
There are some students that can’t wait for school to begin and others dread it.Those feelings are shaped over years of experience, good and bad and indifferent.Susanne has a memory of her earliest days in grade one, whether it wa...
Cats Make History
Susanne and Manfred go on a road trip to research the life of a manager of the rail in Brockville in 1870. Seeing as much of the city, was important. Today, things have changed. Tourists and locals now walk the rail tunnel as coloured lights il...
The Relentless Pursuit of Buttertarts - Episode 70
It was in summer of 2019 that Susanne started to wonder, just how many tarts her staff at the Crazy 8 Barn had sold since starting to make them in the fall of 2013. She scoured through seven years of month end reports and realized they had made...
Repeating the News Beat of Municipal Politics - Episode 69
Susanne started covering municipal politics when she turned 19 years old.Her college professor asked if she would accept a full-time position at a small weekly newspaper a few weeks before her fellow students started their co-op placemen...
Searching for a Treasure creates memories - Episode 68
Last week Susanne went on a treasure hunt with her 12 year old grandson.It started, as all skulduggery does, with the simple idea of spending some fun time together.She wanted him to accompany her on a short trip to an old barn wh...
A Tragedy gets Better with Every Telling
Susanne loves to listen to audio books. It was a habit she picked up a few years ago when trying to be a faithful treadmill walker.Her deal with herself was that she could only listen to the audio book when walking on that perpetual moti...
The Roadside Attraction of Forest Fires - Episode 66
Susanne's daughter started her journey to becoming a fire fighter by travelling to northern Ontario to fight forest fires almost two decades ago.It was a series of trips and travels that Susanne was happy to make with her, and was thinki...
Keep Your Mind on the Harvest at Hand - Episode 65
A couple of days ago, I had my most terrifying moment in a combine. Over the years, there have been times when I was nervous driving in a cornfield at night thinking that a scary body could pop out of the rows in front of me; or when it feels l...
A Fair Request - Episode 64
The Canadian National Exhibition has a long history in the city of Toronto and Susanne is flattered when she receives an invitation to demonstrate her barn quilt painting skills.Find out what happens when she mulls over the r...
Working with a Make-believe Muse
Writers and other creatives often have real or imaginary muses that help them make beautiful art. Susanne had a make-believe muse - Lazy Larry - and he isn't always a writer's dream assistant. Listen to this hilarious account...
Looking for a Canadian Symbol - Episode 62
On Canada Day, Susanne thinks she should make a bucket list to see all of the stereotypical symbols that are used to represent Canada in all kinds of artwork. She realizes many that she had not seen are from the far north of Canada. <...
It's a Mystery to go on Tour - Episode 61
We had a bus tour visit Crazy 8 Barn this week. It was a mystery tour from Chicago.That is a curated few days where the exact location and each event is a surprise to the participants.As we waited for their arrival, we joked about...
Maybe it was a good day - Episode 60
I’ve written often of my dad but I thought today, that I would write about his dad, my grandpa Spence.My grandfather had a life of major heartbreaks and tragedies but he didn’t seem broken, to me as a child.And, I've found somethi...
First Time in a Barn - Episode 59
Susanne is looking for a dreamer with a destiny. Join her on her first trip inside a rare octagonal barn to find out who will be loving this magnificent structure next. She's also going to be asking you for a big favour ...
Tap Dancing and Other Failures
When Susanne attends her granddaughter's annual dance recital she recalls an earlier recital when she had wished she had practised more diligently and was as cute as the littlest performers.Join her as she talks about oil boom days and E...
Chipmunk Bites are Hard to Shake Off - Episode 57
No, this isn't another crazy wildlife episode, well, wait a second ... it may be consider a wild life aviation episode. Find out what happens when Susanne's Dad buys a Canadian military primary training aircraft and sparks a love affair t...
Saving a Turtle Takes Team Work - Episode 56
There's a networks of people in Ontario working to save injured turtles and return them to their native habitats. Susanne and Manfred found out how it works when they came into close proximity of a snapping turtle.Join them on the ...
1887 Celebration Fit for a Queen
When Susanne is researching details for a story she is writing about a man in 1800's Ontario, she goes down a rabbit hole of history to find some gritty details about Queen Victoria's birthday celebrations in the backwoods in 1887.
Wishing for Blue Skies and Tailwinds
You might wish for blue skies and tailwinds but Susanne is trying to capture the beauty of the headwind this bicycling season. Join her on this breezing tale to find out just how much we are blown about by something we cannot see.
From Monterey to Salvage - Episode 1 & 52
To celebrate one year of podcasting, Susanne is rebroadcasting her first podcast episode that was lost in a shuffle from podcasting hosts.While out campaigning in the federal election, Susanne comes across a vivid reminder of the days wh...
Emigrating with Dreams and Bulbs
When Susanne meets a barn quilt painting workshop participant whose father hybridized Amaryllis in Holland over 75 years ago, she embarks on a discovery of the flower that leads her to her own back yard.
Not My Cat in a Springtime Garden - Episode 50
A kitten was left in our garden many years ago. Since then, he has a comfortable forever home but he spends many days wandering through the flowers and along the paths just like Susanne on a Spring day. Find out how that turns out o...
Mercurial Spring in Southwestern Ontario - Episode 49
Snow storms that blow enormous flakes onto the grassy ground where they soon melt and welcome sunshine that brings cyclists onto the roads in March are all part of early Spring in southwestern Ontario.This week Susanne notices nature's d...