Post Office Repurposing

 I was visiting my local post office (right before our first snow) and noticed this antiquated mailbag filled with geraniums, sitting on an old postal scale, sitting in the bright sun. The local postmistress did it to brighten the place up. She actually raffles off the flowers in spring, sans mailbag.

She pointed out another flower holder sitting on a shelf. She used an old uniform shirt and made it into a cache pot for some purple African violets. Very clever!

Life in a Small Town

I received this Christmas card in the mail yesterday. Seems the sender had the wrong town (which the post office crossed off) but the correct postal code, with no mailing address other than R. R. 1. And I still got it. Amazing.

Spring Fix-Its

The weekend was tool time around here.


We repaired a few panes of glass that had fallen out over the winter.


Richard is darn handy with the caulking gun.


I finally replaced my old mailbox with a shiny, new one.


Looks great, eh?

On the Road

I delivered the mail on Friday so our regular delivery gal could have a day off and go Christmas shopping. We've only had one snowstorm so far so you could still see corn stubble in the fields.

I'd never done the route in winter before.


I was lucky because it was clear and cold and no snowstorms in sight.


But it was exceptionally windy and the snow blew over the road and looked a bit like dry ice.


Kind of pretty, eh?


My "ergonomic helper" had long arms that day as many times, because of snow banks, I couldn't get in close enough to the mailboxes.


I loved the mixed fonts and lettering on this list of folks who live here.

Going Postal: Scenes from the Road V

My last day as fill-in mail delivery person and we were greeted by a hot air balloon waaaay in the distance.


Peggi and I both liked the ingenuity of this reflector used as a flag on this mailbox. It's now facing the right way for the folks at home to see when their mail has arrived.


This one is held together with duct tape and string. Love it. Click here to see more fun mailboxes which I photographed on the route last summer.


After I returned my official vest along with my car sign and flashing light (sniff, sniff), I came home to see my daffodils about 1" out of the ground, welcoming me home.

Going Postal: Scenes from the Road IV

Spring as seen from the road. Lots of low lying places are still icy.


But everywhere you look, things are starting to open up...


...and the skies (and water) are now filled with Canadian geese. Welcome spring!

Going Postal: Scenes from the Road III

Day three was a busy day delivering mail because it's also the day the local papers come out.


But we still had time for our lunchtime snack and with all the maple tapping and sap boiling, we decided on a maple donut and coffee.


On the route, there are a lot of critters looking at us from the distance. Here's a deer, pausing to check us out.


This barn cat was running down the field and stopped when he saw us delivering the mail.


I just love this winding stream which we cross over on a one way bridge. Look closely because as I clicked this photo, a muskrat swam across to the other side.


Lots of doggies around. This collie stood its ground, guarding the house.


This dog is waiting to chase a car as it drives by. Luckily we were going the other way.


This dog just woke up from a nap so seemed too tired to pay much attention to us at all.


And guess what? I won a free coffee with my "roll up the rim to win" cup today. So tomorrow's coffee is on Tim's!

Going Postal: Scenes from the Road II

Day two from the road. Here's Peggi, my "ergonomic" helper.


Remember that sap they were collecting in yesterday's post? Here is a sugar shack where the sap is being boiled into syrup. The ratio is 40 to 1 so it takes a lot of sap to get that delicious maple syrup.


Some of the more interesting architecture on route: The old MacCrimmon Hall which in its day must have seen dances and meetings but is pretty dormant now.


A lovely old log house that sits right at the road.


The old Skye Schoolhouse is still in fine shape but school hasn't been taught here in years.


And check it out. This road has but one inhabitant. Imagine having your own road?

Going Postal: Scenes from the Road

Yesterday was my first day on the road delivering the mail for Canada Post. I'm filling in this week for our regular delivery gal who is on spring break. Don't you just love my official vest? One of our first stops on the route was to make a package delivery to Tim Horton's. How lucky is that to have a Timmy's on my route? Double double anyone?


Everywhere we went, maple trees were being tapped. The weather was perfect for it too. Days about 5C and nights around -5C.


Trees being tapped and mail being delivered. Nice combo. Speaking of combos, maybe tomorrow's stop at Timmy's will be for a coffee and a maple donut!

Mailboxes Etc.

My own mailbox, looking a little rusty around the edges. But I just love my cat flag that I found on a trip to Oregon some years back.

A lovely little folk art painting on the side of this mailbox.

A little log cabin mailbox -- very cute.

Okay, this one wasn't on our delivery route, but I saw it on the way to the grocery store and thought I'd snap a pic. Pretty cool racing car mailbox for a place called Mr. Rad.

I found it pretty interesting how curious these cattle were and how they watched us as we pulled up to the mailbox.

Why does a snapping turtle cross the road? Not sure but he was right beside the mailbox as we drove up.

All in all, a really fun experience. Can't wait till I get called on to do it again!

More From Down the Road

Some of the mailboxes on our route seem to be held together with wire and bubble gum.

Others are down right pretty and practical too. Their watering can is tucked in right behind the mailbox.

Simple yet clever. A sort-of visor, made out of a piece of plastic has been duct taped to the edge so no raindrops will fall on their mail.

An old metal hand pump makes a great home for a mailbox.

Swinging from an old electrical post, complete with its original insulators, is this funky mailbox.

Today is my last day delivering mail as the regular gal is back next week. I'll miss seeing the deer and goats, saying hi to neighbours and drinking our daily Tim Horton's coffee. Did I mention that between the two concession roads on the route is a Tim Horton's? And yes, we have to go in because they get mail too!