A car abruptly stopped on its way up Valley View Drive in Grand Bay-Westfield one recent evening. The homeowner looking through the window, wondered what was going on when suddenly she saw a dark shape run across her front lawn. Going to the back window, she followed the shadow heading into the neighbours yard where it triggered the motion detector and turned on the outside light. Now visible, the creature looked like a large dog or wolf. It was in fact a coyote, the same one that has been hanging around this neighbourhood for a while now.

Peter Perry is the Assistant District Ranger at the Department of Natural Resources office in Welsford. He says they’ve had about three reports of sightings of this coyote. He says as far as he knows it hasn’t killed any cats or attacked dogs in the area but people are concerned given other well publicized encounters with coyotes. Recently a woman in Saint-Charles, New Brunswick struggled with a coyote for about ten minutes after it tried to attack her puppy.  She says it kept trying to bite her until she punched it in the mouth and the animal retreated back into the woods. Last fall, a young woman from Toronto was attacked and killed by coyotes while on a hike in Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

Perry says this kind of behaviour by coyotes is unusual but people should be prepared. He says the coyote population is way up, food sources for them are low and they’re being attracted by squirrels and small pets like cats and dogs, found in towns and subdivisions. Perry says if a coyote is hanging around and becoming a nuisance people should alert the DNR office in Welsford.

The department is also advising people they can destroy the animal themselves. A coyote is labelled as nuisance wildlife and can be killed by the homeowner. A license is not required but it has to be done during daylight hours and on your own property. Perry says a shotgun with bird shot is the safest weapon to use because bullets can sometimes ricochet. He says if you don’t own a firearm yourself, you can have someone else shoot the animal for you.

Coyotes in this region are larger than the type found in the prairies. They average about 35 pounds but can grow to up to 50 pounds, the size of a large dog. The animal is a strong runner and capable of reaching speeds of 64 km per hour.

Wildlife officials say people shouldn’t be worried about coyotes but should exercise caution. Perry says if you’re out walking or x-c skiing in the woods, you should carry poles or a walking stick with you. If you encounter an aggressive animal and can use it to jab or hit the creature and scare it away. He says it’s also a good idea to stop feeding birds if you’re doing so because the squirrels that feeders attract could also be attracting coyotes to your property. Perry reminds us that throughout much of the River Valley, we’re living right beside huge tracts of forest and that means we’re going to have encounters with wildlife from time to time. He says if you have a concern about coyotes near your home call the Welsford DNR office at 486-6000.

In every province in Canada there are laws that prevent a person from cutting a dependant out of the will. The law recognizes the obligation of a person to provide adequate support for a spouse or child after death. The spouse or child who gets cut out can go to court and ask a judge to rewrite the will to get some or all of your estate. The request has to be made within 4 months of the date of death.

The Judge will look at the value of your estate, and all of the circumstances and then use discretion to give a lump sum or an annual amount to the dependant for maintenance and support. If you give nothing  to your spouse or children who are financially depending on you for support, expect a lawsuit, guaranteed. Giving a dollar does not cut it either.

Now you may think you have good reason to cut off a spouse or child such as a gambling addiction or drug use. If you want a judge to accept your reasons you had better prepare a memo with your reasons in writing and sign that memo. If you use a lawyer to prepare a will, the lawyer will ask why you are disinheriting someone and will probably take notes and prepare a memo for you to sign. Even then, the judge may ignore your reasons. Where there has been a disinheritance or unequal treatment between children, the big question is whether there is a “logical connection” between the disinheritance or unequal treatment and the reasons for it. The reasons have to be valid and rational.

Tom Peters had three sons, ages Adam 57, Bob 55 and Charles 50 and an estate of 2 million dollars. His youngest son Charles was gay and Tom disapproved. When making his will, Tom instructed his lawyer that he did not want Charles to get anything from the estate because of his lifestyle. The lawyer said that would be unacceptable and probably challenged, and he would not prepare a will that way. An argument took place and finally Tom decided to give 1/3 to Adam and 1/3 to Bob but put Charles’ 1/3 share in trust so Charles would only get the annual income and not a lump sum. When Charles died, his lump sum was to go to Adam and Bob and not to Charles’ gay partner.

When Tom died, Charles challenged the will and the reasons. One of the brothers objected but the judge found that the father’s reasons did not hold water and gave Charles a lump sum equal to 1/3 of the estate. Homosexuality was not a good reason to treat a child unequally. Tom’s reasons were not valid or rational.

The term “Dependant” used to be thought of as  financial dependence but courts now look at a moral obligation with stunning results.

Silas Drew had 4 adult children. He left his estate of $100,000 to Alice and Bart and disinherited Caleb and Danny. They both got nothing. Silas and Danny had had a falling out when Danny was 18 and they never talked to each other or saw each other after that. Danny was 41 when his Dad died. Although he had nothing to do whatsoever with his Dad for 27 years, Danny claimed that his Dad had a moral obligation to leave him something in the will. Alice and Bart gave some of their money to Caleb but objected to Danny getting a penny since there was no relationship between Danny and his Dad. The court sided with Danny. Danny did not give up his moral claim to a share in his father’s estate. The judge felt that Silas should have done more to open communication with Danny. Since Silas gave Danny nothing in an emotional or material way, the will was his last opportunity to do right by his son. Danny got his share.

Spouses have added protection thanks to the law on marital property. If a spouse dies and gives away all or part of the marital property there will be a challenge. Marital property is the property owned by one or both spouses and ordinarily used by them and their children while they are living together. That challenge must happen within 60 days of death. Usually a spouse is entitled to half the marital property, but not always!

Ray Riddell QC

Oatmeal Savages  by Ross Mavis

I remember grocery day for my Mum like it was yesterday. She had courageously moved from the north end of Vancouver Island to Saint John at the age of 84. Even at a spry 96 years old she continued to live on her own and go through several hundreds of dollars of groceries monthly. Mum’s eyesight then was not good so she relied on me to take her shopping, usually about once every few weeks. She would hold onto the grocery cart while I slowly pushed it down the aisles, calling out the products located there. She never failed to amaze me by trying most of the ‘new foods’ that came on the market. I had never eaten multi-grain Cheerio’s but Mum knew them well.

“I prefer them even to oatmeal,” Mum said once. Now this was a shock. My mum saying she preferred a commercial cereal to oatmeal. Shame! Her Scottish heritage and dogged determination to live forever was a fine example of Celtic mind over matter.
She passed away quietly in her 98th year after saying she no longer wanted to eat. At Mum’s funeral we had a kilted piper play the hymn Amazing Grace. My mother truly was amazing.

I have never been to Scotland but I’m determined to go. Mum was born in Aberdeen and travelled with her mother and sisters to Canada in 1910. Although Mum didn’t remember much of the journey; she did recall having breakfast in Montreal before boarding a train heading for the west coast. My father would often say that my mother and her siblings were only encouraged off the ship by sprinkling oatmeal down the gang plank. He affectionately referred to her as an oatmeal savage.

Oatmeal or porridge was not a popular English dish. Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language in 1755 defined oats as a grain, which in England was generally given to horses, and in Scotland supports the people. It can be easily understood why the Scots are such a hardy breed as oats are by far the most nutritious of the cereal grains. Once oats have been cleaned, toasted, hulled and cleaned once again, they become oat groats. These can be cooked and served as a cereal or used as you would rice. When steamed and flatted by heavy rollers the transformation is to rolled oats. These are further processed and rolled again into quick-cooking rolled oats.

Instant oats cannot be used as you would rolled oats or quick cooking oats. The instant variety has been pre-cooked and the softer product often can become lumpy or mushy when used in muffins or cakes. Scotch oats (also called steel cut oats) are coarse unrolled and resemble the texture of couscous or cracked wheat. These are great in a breakfast cereal but require longer cooking than oatmeal. When using oat flour (finely ground groats) in baked goods, additional leavening is needed to help the product rise. There are a plethora of recipes both sweet and savory that use oats or oatmeal. Oatmeal in meat loaf, oatmeal and brown rice with spices, and oatmeal cookies galore incorporate this versatile grain.

Here are some ways to enjoy oatmeal other than traditional porridge which is fantastic in itself.

Toasted Oatmeal and Honey Sandwiches
2 Tbsp.  -  oatmeal – 30 ml
4 slices  -  brown bread – 4
2 Tbsp.  – butter – 30 ml
3 Tbsp.  – honey – 45 ml
Preheat Oven to 350 F ( 177 C )
On a baking sheet, spread oatmeal and bake in oven about 10 minutes until pale brown. Spread bread with butter and honey. Sprinkle cooled, toasted oatmeal over honey. Top with buttered bread.

Pineapple Mango Fruit Crisp
Use almost any combination of fruit for this delicious fruit crisp. Serve it hot or cold.

1 cup – flour – 250 ml
1 cup – rolled oats – 250 ml
1 cup – brown sugar – 250 ml
½ cup – butter – 125 ml
1 tsp. – cinnamon – 5 ml
½ tsp. – nutmeg – 2 ml
3 cups – chopped pineapple – 750 ml
1 cup – chopped mango – 250 ml
2 Tbsp. – butter – 30 ml

Mix together flour, oats and half the brown sugar in a large bowl. Cut butter into mixture using a knife or pastry blender. Combine cinnamon, nutmeg and the remaining brown sugar in a separate bowl and mix with fruit. Mix a quarter of the crumb mixture with the fruit mixture. In a large buttered glass baking pan, spread a quarter of the crumb mixture and pat into a base. Add fruit mixture on top and spread evenly. Cover with remaining crumb mixture and pat down lightly. Dot with butter and bake for about 30 minutes at 350 F. Serve warm alone or with ice cream. Serves 6 – 8

According to public statements over the last couple of years Canadians do not want an election. During the NB Power controversy some people called for a referendum, but only a few said a provincial election on that issue was warranted. In the last half century elections for town and city councils in New Brunswick have gone from every two years to every three years and now every four years.

Yet I often hear people in coffee shops, barber shops, post offices and supermarkets saying we should throw out all of the elected officials and put new ones in. The trouble is, the removal process could result in endless filings of petitions for recall and perhaps votes to get them out and elections to replace them. It is better to have more frequent elections.

The House of Representatives in the United States, sort of the equivalent of our House of Commons, does just that. Every two years, on a specified Tuesday in November, all 435 seats are contested. An important difference from Canada is that the President and Cabinet do not have to be chosen from the Representatives. Sometimes a referendum is held on that same day, along with elections for many other positions including state legislators, local councils and others. On the same day, about a third of the 100-seat United States Senate is elected. Their term is 6 years. This provides an element of stability that carries through other election cycles. The President and Vice-President are chosen every four years.

The Canadian system is like the system in the United Kingdom. There is a maximum time between elections but the date is usually chosen by the Prime Minister. Members are appointed to the Upper Chamber (The House of Lords) from time to time and almost always as recommended by the Prime Minister. The Senate of Canada is similar.

On major issues like going to war, selling Government-owned companies or construction projects like the Fredericton-Moncton toll road or Peel Plaza in Saint John, it is unwise to have a referendum because most voters are not trained to analyze military strategy or business decisions. This is not an insult to members of the public. As my late father once said, “If you needed a brain operation would you choose someone with common sense, or a qualified brain surgeon?“

A better method is to have the certainty of an election in the near future to remind them to make the right decision and explain it clearly to the public. This requires our participation by electing competent representatives.

I think we should try to get our present representatives to change the way we elect them. Many voting systems have been tried and some new ones proposed. We should go with what we know works. I like the run-off system. Have elections like we do now, but if no candidate has more than half the votes cast there should be a run-off about two weeks later between the top two vote-getters. That way we will always have an elected representative who represents a majority of voters. It is better than what we have now, and better than proportional representation, which leads to many small parties and the need for political coalitions.

Canada should have an elected senate, but to include an element of protest, not all should be chosen at the same time as the members of the House of Commons. In the United States every state, large or small, has two senators. That gives extra weight to voters in states with small populations. Our Senate was designed to do that too. In the United States the whole state votes for senators. I think Canada would have to divide the provinces into regions, each with about 5 senators. Some Cabinet positions should be assigned to the Senate. The Prime Minister could come from either house.

I think more than the St. John River will freeze over before this happens, but I think it is good to talk about it.

Last October the guest speaker at the River Valley Garden Club meeting gave us a talk and demonstration on how to layer different varieties of spring bulbs in a single pot and how to force (persuade) them to flower before their normal season. I was interested to try this method as I had only done this with a single variety in each pot.

To accomplish this I went to Halifax Seed where they had an overwhelming variety to choose from. I was also hoping  for some advice as to which bulbs would be the most suitable but unfortunately their horticulturist was away that day so I was on my own. I had selected a pot which was 10 inches high with a circumference around the top of 34 inches tapering to 20 inches at the base. After a great deal of soul searching, I chose 6 pink hyacinths, 12 daffodils, 6 yellow crocus and 6 white crocus. I wanted the daffodils to have small flowers as I thought the heavier heads of standard varieties would flop over, and I also wanted the centres to be darker than the petals. I also looked for shorter varieties of daffodil which would help to keep them upright.

When I got home I planted them at once starting with the hyacinths, which were the largest bulbs, at the lowest level, evenly spaced around the edge. I covered these with about an inch of soil mix followed by the daffodils spaced between the hyacinths and in the centre. After adding soil mix to cover them I arranged the crocus evenly around the pot alternating the colours and again covered them with enough soil mix to bring the level to just below the rim. After giving them a good watering I had to decide where I would put them as I was going away for almost a month. As the pot was too large for the refrigerator I decided to put it out in the garden in a shady place covered with newspaper. When I returned home there was no sign of any growth but the soil mix was still damp and not saturated, so I felt that things were probably progressing. I gave them another thorough watering and brought the pot into my unheated porch still covered with newspaper. After about two weeks shoots were appearing and I decided to bring them into the warmth. They should flower 3-4 weeks afterwards and, in fact, by January 9th the hyacinth and white crocus were showing colour while the daffodil buds were just forming. The picture was taken on January 20th when the hyacinths, white crocus and half the daffodils were in full flower. I think I failed to turn the pot and half the daffodils grew more slowly as they had had less light. It took them no time at all to catch up and as I write this on February 2nd the hyacinths are past their best but the white crocus and daffodils are still looking good. However where are the yellow crocus? I have  fine healthy leaves but no sign of flower buds. Somewhere at the back of my mind someone once mentioned that yellow crocus couldn’t be forced indoors. If you wanted them in the house, the pot had to be buried outside and could only be brought inside when the flower buds had formed. From my experiment it would appear that this is true. I have asked several professional gardeners but nobody has the answer. Please, if anyone can give me a definite answer I would appreciate it and in the meantime I shall have to wait and see if the yellow crocus will flower later.  On February 8th there is still no sign of flower buds on the crocus!

We overlook Caton’s Island, where years ago Mr. Howard Robinson used to plant non-native trees from all over the world and where ducks used to gather in clouds during the northern flight migrations each fall, which made him make the island into a Federal Waterfowl Sanctuary. D’Arcy Brown, the caretaker who lived in the white house on the mainland bank, (demolished) would handle the motor boat and scow and bring people and animals to and fro from the Island. Each day Mr. Robinson would be driven into Saint John to the Telephone Company and the Telegraph Journal by George Hector who played the banjo and lived in Gagetown. George was always a pleasant and polite fellow, even to those who were just casual friends. And I remember how excited we were when we found a deposit of “fool’s gold” on the north side of the island, where there was a white bench on a sand beach to sit and rest and look up river. We were always intrigued at the Historical Society’s cairn that reminded us of the original French settlers, Robert Grave who built his trading post to trade with the Indians.  There was another trading post at a later date off Anderson’s Point and also one on Oak Point. The book, ‘Caton’s Island’  by James A. Fraser C.S.A gives a detailed account of the settlement of the Island from the earliest French traders up through all the English owners by the grant system until Mr. Robinson and Mr. Parker. A friend, who was a boy soldier during the War, and was stationed on Chesley Street attending classes at the Vocational School, purchased a metal detector and found many foreign coins around the Oak Point trading post. These included coins used locally plus Spanish doubloons  and other strange currency.

After we came down here in 1958, the Island appeared to me as a place of great potential. Mr. Hardy Parker of Welsford owned it then and I was interested in buying it for our residence. Mr. Parker offered me the Island for $l00,000, but I found the price too high for me at that time. Since then I have reflected on the problems of winter access across the ice, young children growing up there and the difficulty of weekly shopping. D’Arcy told me that the land was quite arable and would easily support a large vegetable garden. I was particularly taken with the house that Mr. Robinson had built and felt that the other rebuilt house that was located behind the cairn would give us the space we thought we needed.

Up at Evandale, the old Eveleigh Hotel has just re-opened and they are serving breakfast all day, large beef or chicken dinners with all the fixin’s in their hotel dining room and they even have a “burger bar” for quick lunches. While on the lawn they have a swimming pool instead of swimming off the Evandale Wharf, like guests have done for years. Today, most guests arrive by car, whereas years ago they would arrive by sailboats and launches or the river boats. There was also daily train and bus service.

A & W – Angus & Winnie

Those of us who travelled on the commuter train to high school or work became a close knit group. Everyone got to know everyone else. In 1948-49, I was in my last year of high school when I became aware of a new presence among the high school crowd, a girl that I had never seen before. She was blonde and beautiful and I could feel palpitations in my chest so loud I felt everyone could hear them. Her name was Winnie Gorham and she lived at Crystal Beach, so she had to cross on the ferry and walk to Westfield Beach station to get on the train. It was also quite a walk from Crystal Beach to the ferry. It’s strange how one’s voice and movements freeze when they encounter a person of the opposite sex who they are attracted to. However, Winnie made it easy for me and I soon relaxed when in her company. We started dating and I spent a lot of evenings at the Gorham home at Crystal, quite often watching wrestling on the telly.

Mrs. Gorham was always very nice to me and brought tea and sweets and talked about life in general. Sometimes Winnie and I would stay in town after school and go to the show, coming home later on the bus. One of her sisters (Elsie I think) sometimes went with us. One of our first dates was to be a drive in my father’s car on a Sunday afternoon. I drove to the ferry but found that it had been unable to cross as the ice was running heavily. I was very disappointed and went to Ivan Kierstead’s store and looked out the window to see if it might eventually come. I waited quite a long time but it didn’t appear. Then,miraculously who should come walking up the road from the ferry landing but Winnie! She had come with some others in a rowboat.

Winnie’s father was Arthur Gorham who was one of the ferry operators and a fine man. He brought his car from his house every day and left it by the ferry landing, just out of sight of the ferry. The ferry didn’t run all night at that time, closing at 11 or 12 PM (I forget which) and the operator left at the appointed hour and went home. If there was an emergency, Bill and Edison Thompson lived very near and would be awakened to look after it as they were both operators. Art Gorham got used to me coming and going to court his daughter, walking the half mile or so to and from Crystal Beach. One evening he took pity on me and told me to use his car and bring it back before closing time. This I did many times until one night when I was very tired and brought the car back to find that the ferry was on the other side. I decided to wait in the car until the ferry came back and promptly fell asleep. Art couldn’t see the car from the ferry so he waited in the cabin for me to appear. He waited for over half an hour past his going home time, then decided to walk. He, of course, only went a few yards when he saw the car and me fast asleep. He wasn’t happy, especially since he had to start up the boat to take me across. My popularity decreased. However, my popularity also decreased with Winnie for other reasons as she had fallen in love with Eddie Leggett and eventually married him.

I met an older man on the train who hailed from Welsford, who sometimes used the train to get to work. Other times he travelled with his brother Stanley Jones by car. In the fall of 1949, after having graduated from Saint John High School, I started to work at the North End Branch of The Bank of Nova Scotia at the corner of Main St. and Douglas Ave. When I arrived the first day, having walked from Union Station to the bank, the manager Harry Burton introduced me to all the staff and lo and behold, there was Angus Jones, the assistant accountant, much to my surprise. It was interesting to watch Angus as he was a real country boy with no pomp or ceremony as he waited on customers and the older women flocked to him for his boyish charm and simplicity. Like all boys brought up in the country, Angus rolled his own cigarettes and these were the days when it was OK to smoke anywhere, even at work in the bank. I watched him one day as he was looking after a well-to-do woman, leaning with his elbows on the counter. He then reached into his jacket pocket and brought out the “makins”. He took out a cigarette paper and held it in his left hand while he poured tobacco into it with his right hand, letting the overflow drop on the counter. He then proceeded to roll the cigarette while more tobacco fell to the counter and he took great pains to lick the paper. The finished product wasn’t very pretty with tobacco sticking out both ends so he used his fingers to clear one end so that he could put it in his mouth. He left the tobacco sticking out of the other end and proceeded to scratch a match on the seat of his pants, all the while talking to the lady customer. When the match lit the cigarette, there was a burst of flame and smoke that got in the customer’s face until the loose tobacco was consumed. Then Angus drew a deep drag which you could tell he greatly enjoyed, and proceeded to blow the smoke into the lady’s face again. She took her hand to brush away the smoke from her face, smiled at Angus and carried on with her business. Angus had charm and he also was very good to me, helping me to learn the intricate workings of the bank and I appreciated his help. His habits never changed while I was there but in 1950 they transferred me to Belleville, Ontario and a whole different world.

The events that I have mentioned happened over sixty years ago, but these and many other incidents still stick in my mind. Imagine, remembering how a man rolled his cigarette over sixty-two years later.

The Poop on Soup

If ever an excuse was needed to make soup; the recent cold weather provides more than enough reasons. Nothing can warm your body and soul quite like good, hot, soup. It’s not just the nourishment but also the opportunity to warm your hands on a mug of soup even before the steaming liquid food enters your body. According to my sources, there are more than 15,000 soup recipes the world over. I hate to quibble but I’m sure this number is way too modest.

There really isn’t anything I can think of that does not lend itself to being cooked into a great soup. That is one of the unique qualities of this hearty liquid food. You are never stuck pondering what you might turn into a gut warming, nourishing soup. Vegetable, meat, poultry or fish are all fare game. I’m sure if I was to drop into your house uninvited on any given day, I would still be able to find ingredients in your kitchen to make us a lovely bowl of soup. Doubt my talents? Invite me to try.

For example, my wife Willa and I arrived home late the other evening. Our house at the foot of Pancake Hill was cold. A fire had to be lit and supper started. While Willa kindled the wood stove, I put my mind to supper. Let’s see now….we pretty well finished the roast chicken yesterday. The rack in the fridge was still on the old white platter Willa’s dad had given her many years ago. It was the perfect size for a medium size roast chicken. We have been able to source free range, meat king chickens and they are absolutely incredible. These chickens taste like chicken tasted when my mum or Willa’s mum roasted chicken, years ago.

Even though most of the bones had been pretty well picked clean, there was one portion of breast meat and a drumstick left untouched. Not really enough for a meal for two. Undaunted, I quickly diced a small onion, chopped a stick of celery and peeled two carrots before dicing them as well. These I put into the old cast iron Dutch oven over medium high heat on the propane range. A tablespoon of bacon fat was added and the vegetable mix was sautéing nicely while I searched the fridge for more victims.

Aha, a small Pyrex dish of light chicken gravy was found hiding behind the large bottle of rhubarb jam. Into a microwave safe bowl went the chicken bones, broken up to yield as much surface area to hot broth as possible. Two chicken bouillon cubes, four cups of water and the partially sliced drumstick were added. Three minutes nuked on high and things were starting to smell like supper.

The hot broth was poured into the sizzling veggies in the cast iron pan and whatever meat possible was stripped from the bones and leg. This was quickly chopped and added with the diced breast portion to the soup now reaching full gestation on the stove. To this I added the cup of chicken gravy with a flourish reminiscent of the baptizing of our grandson. My wife will kill me for saying that.

Then came the tasting of the mixture;  ahh, mmmm, yes just a little salt and pepper will bring everything nicely together. Chopped fresh parsley was added. Crusty whole wheat rolls, butter and bowls of steaming chicken carcass soup graced our table that night. A glass of dry red wine sharpened the palate and supper was served. Now what could be easier or tastier? And that’s the poop on soup.

Ray Riddell QC

Your estate consists of everything you own at the time of your death. Some items that are owned jointly or have designated beneficiaries like life insurance, RRSP, homes and camps are not included in your estate. There is a great saving of probate fees and time because they pass automatically to the beneficiary. Some couples arrange for everything to be owned jointly so there is no need to go to Probate Court when one of them dies. Even if a car is owned in just one name, or a small bank account is in one name only, they may be transferred without going to Probate Court if there is a valid will.

A good rule to remember is the smaller your estate, the smaller the probate fees. A lawyer, banker or financial planner can be very helpful in making sure you pay less money to the taxman.

When you have a list of your property, you need to write down in plain English in your own handwriting your instructions as to who gets what (beneficiaries), who handles your estate (executor) and who will look after your infant children (guardian). Money given to children is held in trust by a person called the trustee. The trustee, executor and guardian may be the same person but many think that separating the roles is better since two heads are better than one. If you sign your instructions at the bottom of the sheet of paper you have made a will. You do not need any witnesses. You can also take these instructions to a lawyer and have a formal will prepared and signed by two witnesses. Your lawyer may have some helpful advice and if you give the lawyer your instructions before you meet it  will save time and money.

For most couples, the decision is simple. Most couples leave everything to each other and appoint the survivor to handle the estate (executor). The spouse is familiar with the financial details and will usually be supported by family and capable advisors when necessary. It is important to have a back up plan in case your spouse dies before you or at the same time. In that case it is common to appoint a backup executor to handle the estate and to lay out  a backup plan for dividing their estate.

Most commonly, but not always, the surviving parent will leave everything to the children. The children may be infants and in that case there are some additional considerations such as appointing a trustee to look after the money.

If all of the children are adults the best way to create a future battleground is to treat children unequally. More family disputes happen after the death of a parent and the majority of those disputes result from a perception of unfairness. Money from an inheritance can increase the quality of life and open up opportunities that could not have been possible before, but human traits such as greed and anger can be magnified and without Mum or Dad around to settle the squabbles, brothers and sisters may never talk to each other again.

Parents who treat adult children unequally claim to have good reasons. One child may be in need and another well off. Unfortunately, life changes and what you see now may change and roles could be reversed. Parents may also want to punish a child for something done in the past. A will is not the place or time to do that. I knew of one widow who actually cut off her son because he did not show up for Mothers Day. She did not imagine the permanent damage she caused to her family. Dividing the estate equally among the adult children and appointing them all as executors reduces the chances of an all out war.

Ray Riddell QC is a resident of Woodmans Point, NB. He practised law in Halifax, Nova Scotia for 30 years with particular focus in probate, property, labour law and civil litigation. He is presently on sabbatical.

Preparing for Spring – Part One

Most of the seed catalogues arrive around Christmas and now is the time to decide what you would like to grow this gardening season. Every year the seed companies produce something new for us to experiment with. However, unless you can produce the right conditions for growing plants from seed indoors you may find the results disappointing. For this reason, I leave the growing of tender annual flowers to the professionals. The nurseries have a wide choice of variety, colour and size, all ready for planting outside at the appropriate time. I restrict my choice of annual flower seeds to those that can be directly seeded in the garden and essentially look after themselves. If they re-seed themselves next year that is a bonus.

Local naturalist and birder, Jim Wilson spoke at the January River Valley Garden Cub Meeting about 'Living in Harmony with Wildlife on your Property'. Pictured above: Garden Club President Tracy Parker and Jim Wilson.

Bachelor’s Buttons (Black Bull) is one that I will try this year. It has chocolate flowers and grows to 30 inches. Calendula (Scotch Marigolds) now come in a variety of colours from pale yellow to bronze and if dead headed regularly will flower all summer until frost. Cosmos come in all shades from white to dark red. They tend to be tall, 3-4 feet.  New this year is “Sensation Candy Stripe,” white with rose edges and pale stripes.  Morning Glories make a good addition to trellises and fences growing 6-8 feet. New this year is “Carnival” which is candy striped in shades of blue, white and pink. Nasturtiums are good value as leaves and flowers are edible adding interest to summer salads. The flowers come in all shades of cream, yellow, orange and red and the leaves, depending on the variety, are various shades of green. One is marbled green and white.  One of my favourite annuals is the poppy. They come in all colours and sizes, both single and double, and will reliably reseed the following year. To keep them flowering all summer they need to be dead headed but remember to leave some seed heads for the following year. New this year is the California Poppy “Purple Gleam” which has the usual attractive blue/green foliage but the flowers are deep lilac instead of the usual cream/yellow/orange. Sunflowers are spectacular and easy to grow. They now come in shades of red as well as the usual yellows. Children love to grow them as they grow so fast. The varieties that provide bird seed are a bonus. (Beware the racoon!) I love sweet peas but have had little success with them in the past. I shall try again this year. There is a perennial sweet pea (Lathryus Latifolius) which might be worth trying as it is said to be salt, wind and drought tolerant and at a height of 6-8 feet, can survive where little else will.

Perennials grown from seed are very good value for money. They can be started early in the spring or later in the summer. I find I have more success by planting later as growing conditions outside are easier to manage than inside with our “dry as a desert” and” low light” conditions. Very few perennials will flower in their first season but  seeds germinated in summer will produce healthy plants which, if set out in the garden, will make a wonderful display the following year for only a fraction of the cost of buying from nurseries. I see that there is now available a Coneflower (Echinacea) mixture “Paradiso”, a mixture of white, pink, red, yellow and orange blooms, guaranteed to flower from July to October and hardy to zone 3. Perennial asters (September Ruby – tall and “Pinkie – short) are easy to grow and are beloved by butterflies and bees as is Butterfly Flower (Asclepias) which is available in pink and white. This will flower the first season if planted early.

For this column I have consulted two catalogues specific to Atlantic Canada and one from Ontario. They were Vesey’s, Halifax Seed and Dominion Seed House. There are many others which are available on line and have interesting and unusual offerings. Have fun!