Kaitiaki Hamon’s Look At Weather And The World

🏒 Kaitiaki Hamon's Look At Weather And The World

[NOW PLAYING] 😈 You Make My Dreams (Come True) – Daryl Hall & John Oates 😈
/pure bottled sunshine for the warmest November morning we have any right to expect/

New here? Stick around, pull up a chair, and ride with us every morning: five pro secrets, one true story, two countries of weather, and a soundtrack that guarantees LAWNgevity. 🌱

🌤️ Intro

Hey crew, Kaitiaki Hamon here 🌳🚜. I am still living the two-address life this week, one foot at the old place and one at the new, with boxes doing more travelling than I am and the final loads still running the show 📦. The poppy is up on the site for remembrance season, the canvases are stacked safe and waiting for my hands to be free again, and Edmonton has rolled out a warm, sunny November stretch that feels like a gift I fully intend to spend outside ☀️. Today you will find the 5 Things Most Pro Landscapers Won't Tell You with the Deep Dive waiting further down, Today's Message, Today's Weather and the five day outlook, the Star Wars galaxy forecast for the week ahead, the Daily Landscaping LOL, and Ron Hairemy's Songs That Guarantee LAWNgevity to bring it home 🎶. Nothing spoiled, everything loaded, coffee highly recommended ☕. Let's ride. 🚀

🛠️ 5 Things Most Pro Landscapers Won't Tell You

1. 🌿🛠️ Rip out the failed landscape fabric hiding under your mulch and rock beds
2. 🌿🛠️ This warm, dry week is the last honest window for exterior wood stain
3. 🌿🛠️ Never divide ornamental grasses in the fall
4. 🌿🛠️ Net the cedars and yews now, before deer switch to evergreen season
5. 🌿🛠️ Vacuum the leaves out of gravel beds instead of raking them

👇 Continue reading to learn more — the full breakdown on all five is waiting for you after the joke.

🌟 Today's Message: The Prince of the Brigade: Tommy Prince and the Fight He Kept Fighting

Some soldiers fight a war, and then some soldiers come home and have to fight their own country for the respect they already earned, and Sergeant Tommy Prince did both with the same quiet stubbornness 🎖️🌺. Thomas George Prince was born on October 25, 1915, at Petersfield, Manitoba, one of eleven children in the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, a descendant of Chief Peguis, who led his people to the Red River in the 1790s 🌾. He grew up hunting, trapping, and tracking in the Manitoba bush, skills the army would one day call elite reconnaissance, and when Canada went to war he volunteered in June 1940, starting as a sapper with the Royal Canadian Engineers 💪. The army nearly overlooked him more than once, because Indigenous volunteers faced doors that stayed shut for reasons that had nothing to do with ability 🚪. Prince kept walking through them anyway.

By 1942 he had volunteered again, this time for the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, and from there into the Canadian-American First Special Service Force, the unit German soldiers named the Devil's Brigade 😈🔥. On the night of February 8, 1944, near Littoria, Italy, Prince ran some 1,400 metres of telephone wire from his lines to an abandoned farmhouse only about 200 metres from the German positions, and reported their artillery locations until the wire was cut by shellfire 📞💥. What he did next is the stuff of legend: he put on civilian clothes, grabbed a hoe, and pretended to be a local farmer weeding a field, shuffling along the line until he found the break, then bent down as if tying a shoelace and spliced the wire back together, shaking his fist at both armies for effect 🎭✨. Four German artillery positions were destroyed off his reporting, and the stunt earned him the Military Medal. In France that September he led a reconnaissance patrol deep behind enemy lines and earned the American Silver Star, making him one of only three Canadians in the whole war to hold both decorations, presented in the orbit of Buckingham Palace by King George VI himself 👑🏅.

Most men would have called that a life's worth of service, but Prince re-enlisted for Korea in 1950 with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and fought in the defence of Hill 677 at Kap'yong in 1951, a stand so fierce his unit received a United States Distinguished Unit Citation, the only Canadian unit ever so honoured 🪖🌏. Then he came home, and here is the part of the story Canada should sit with: the hero of two wars returned to a country where Indigenous veterans were routinely denied the land grants, loans, and benefits other veterans received, and where he could not even vote in federal elections without giving up his status 📜💔. Prince did not go quiet. He became vice-president and spokesperson for the Manitoba Indian Association and stood before a joint committee of Parliament in the 1940s arguing for education, economic opportunity, and basic fairness for his people 🗣️✊. The fight at home was slower than any patrol in Italy, and he fought it anyway, because that is who he was.

Tommy Prince died in Winnipeg on November 25, 1977, in hard circumstances, and for years his medals were scattered and lost, a national embarrassment in miniature 😔. His family and supporters tracked them down, ten of his eleven medals were recovered and are now held in trust at the Manitoba Museum, a Winnipeg street carries his name, and in 2019 he was designated a National Historic Person 🏛️🌺. This Sunday, November 8, is Indigenous Veterans Day in Canada, and Tuesday is Remembrance Day, so here is my call to action, crew: when you pin on your poppy this week, remember that some of the bravest people who ever wore this country's uniform had to fight for that country twice, once overseas and once at home, and then wear one for them on purpose 🎖️❤️. Learn his name, teach it to somebody younger, and if you pass a veteran who the history books skipped, stop and say thank you out loud. Forward is always a choice, and that means YOU too!

Sources:
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/people-and-stories/tommy-prince
https://www.pc.gc.ca/culture/designation/personnage-person/tommy-prince
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canada/sgt-tommy-prince-street
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Prince

🌤️ Today's Weather

Edmonton, today (Wednesday, November 4): Partly cloudy and mild from the jump, sitting at 1°C this morning with 92% humidity and a light ESE wind at 3 km/h, then the sun takes the wheel ☀️. We climb through 3°C by 10 AM and 7°C by noon to a high of 11°C under sunny skies, humidity easing to about 57%, wind SE at 10 to 12 km/h, and essentially no chance of precipitation before a clear evening sliding to 5°C and an overnight low of -2°C. Sunrise 8:39 AM, sunset 5:55 PM 🌅. The vibe is November pretending it has manners, and for work, yard, and mindset it means this is a gift day: get the dry, above-freezing jobs done now instead of gambling on next week. Scale of the Pantaloon: at 11°C, Level 6, "Don't Judge If You See Me in Some Tacky Khakis" 👖

Aotearoa (Auckland), today (Thursday, November 5 NZDT, across the date line): Mostly cloudy and warm, currently 17°C with 95% humidity and a NNE wind at 8 km/h, heading for a high of 21°C with light rain building through the day, about a 40% chance of rain, humidity near 84%, and NNE winds picking up to 19 km/h with gusts into the mid-30s before a low of 16°C 🌦️. Sunrise 6:12 AM, sunset 7:57 PM. The vibe is spring with its sleeves rolled up and a wet weekend loading, and for mindset it is the mirror image of home: we are buttoning down for winter while they are opening the windows 🌱. Scale of the Pantaloon: at 21°C, Level 7, "Bust Out the Booty Shorts, Baby!" 🩳

📅 Next 5 Days — Edmonton – Aeoteroa

Thursday, November 5: Edmonton: mostly cloudy, high 9°C, low -2°C, rain 10%, wind WSW at 10 km/h, a steady grey workday that still beats most Novembers 🌤️. Scale of the Pantaloon: Level 5, "Time to Break Out the Sweatpants" 👟 Aotearoa: light rain, high 21°C, low 16°C, rain 40%, wind NNE at 19 km/h 🌦️. Scale of the Pantaloon: Level 7, "Bust Out the Booty Shorts, Baby!" 🩳

Friday, November 6: Edmonton: partly cloudy, high 10°C, low 4°C, rain 10%, wind SSW at 11 km/h building from the west at night, a mild one ☀️. Scale of the Pantaloon: Level 6, "Don't Judge If You See Me in Some Tacky Khakis" 👖 Aotearoa: thunderstorms, high 22°C, low 17°C, rain 90% with around 9 mm expected, wind N at 20 km/h ⛈️. Scale of the Pantaloon: Level 7, "Bust Out the Booty Shorts, Baby!" 🩳

Saturday, November 7: Edmonton: partly cloudy, high 9°C, low 5°C, rain 0%, wind WSW at 16 km/h, a clean, dry Saturday to finish the week's list ☀️. Scale of the Pantaloon: Level 5, "Time to Break Out the Sweatpants" 👟 Aotearoa: thunderstorms, high 20°C, low 15°C, rain 90% with around 14 mm expected, wind N at 25 km/h ⛈️. Scale of the Pantaloon: Level 7, "Bust Out the Booty Shorts, Baby!" 🩳

Sunday, November 8: Edmonton: partly cloudy, high 14°C, low 2°C, rain 0%, wind WSW at 22 km/h, the warmest day of the run and a proper chinook-flavoured tease 🌞. Scale of the Pantaloon: Level 6, "Don't Judge If You See Me in Some Tacky Khakis" 👖 Aotearoa: partly cloudy, high 21°C, low 15°C, rain 20%, wind NW at 17 km/h, a breather between storms 🌤️. Scale of the Pantaloon: Level 7, "Bust Out the Booty Shorts, Baby!" 🩳

Monday, November 9: Edmonton: mostly sunny, high 9°C, low -2°C, rain 0%, wind WSW at 15 km/h, back to honest November but still dry ☀️. Scale of the Pantaloon: Level 5, "Time to Break Out the Sweatpants" 👟 Aotearoa: rain, high 20°C, low 17°C, rain 80% with around 6.6 mm expected, wind NE at 27 km/h 🌧️. Scale of the Pantaloon: Level 7, "Bust Out the Booty Shorts, Baby!" 🩳

⭐ Star Wars Galaxy Forecast

This week's Edmonton forecast maps onto the far corners of the holonet, crew 🌌. Wednesday's sunshine breaking through at 11°C is Vortex, the wind-scoured world where the Cathedral of Winds turns weather into music and the whole planet sounds like it is singing when the gusts line up 🎶. Thursday's steady grey at 9°C drifts to Svivren, a quiet trade world at the end of the Svivreni-Teyan route where sensible spacers refuel, keep their heads down, and wait out ordinary weather 🛠️. Friday's mild 10°C with a building west wind is Nal Hutta, the swampy Hutt homeworld, all warm murk and scheming in the rain gardens, where every puddle has an owner and charges rent 🐌. Saturday's dry 9°C belongs to Ord Radama, an old Ordnance/Regional Depot world of mud, supply roads, and getting the job done without glamour 🌾. Sunday's 14°C warm spike with 22 km/h winds is New Plympto, a lush Core world of tall trees and restless air, beautiful and never quite settled ✨. Monday's sunny reset at 9°C is Daluuj, a little backwater so far off the lanes that even its weather reports arrive late and unbothered 🌿. And Tuesday's partly cloudy 10°C closes the week on Kegan, an isolated agrarian world that kept the galaxy at arm's length for decades, which honestly sounds like a fine way to spend a November Tuesday. Gather your intel early, keep your caf hot, and may your week stay on the sunny side of the Force, crew ⭐.

😂 The Daily Landscaping LOL

Two muffins are sitting in a hot oven 🧁🔥. One muffin turns to the other and says, "Wow… it is REALLY hot in here." 😅✨

The other muffin screams: "OH MY GOD, A TALKING MUFFIN!!" 🤣

🛠️🌿 The Deep Dive: 5 Things Most Pro Landscapers Won't Tell You 🌿🛠️

1. Rip out the failed landscape fabric hiding under your mulch and rock beds. Weed fabric under organic mulch has a built-in expiry date: the mulch on top composts into soil, weed seeds land in that soil and root happily on top of the fabric, while the fabric itself clogs with fines until water sheets sideways off the bed instead of soaking in. By year three you have weeds, drought, and a plastic layer strangling every root that tries to cross it. On a dry week like this one, peel it out in sections while the ground is workable, and replace the system, not the sheet: cardboard under fresh mulch, or simply a proper 7 to 10 cm mulch depth topped up yearly.

2. This warm, dry week is the last honest window for exterior wood stain. Most exterior stains and deck oils need the wood dry, the air above roughly 10°C, and no rain or hard frost for 24 to 48 hours after application, a combination Edmonton almost never offers after mid-November. With highs of 9 to 14°C and no rain in the forecast through Monday, you have a real window, but work it smart: stain at midday on sun-facing boards, test moisture first because shaded wood can still be damp at noon, and skip anything that will sit below the product minimum overnight. A small section done properly this week beats a whole deck done hopefully in the cold and peeling by July.

3. Never divide ornamental grasses in the fall. Peonies love a fall division, but ornamental grasses play by opposite rules: many have hollow or soft crowns that collect meltwater, and a freshly cut, disturbed crown heading into freeze-thaw rots or heaves instead of resting. Cutting them down now also removes the winter insulation and structure that protects the crown, plus the seed heads the birds are actively eating. Tie a bright marker ribbon on the clumps you want to split, leave them standing all winter, and divide in spring the moment new green shows at the base, when the plant has energy to heal.

4. Net the cedars and yews now, before deer switch to evergreen season. Summer deer browse the garden menu, but once snow covers the ground forage, cedars, yews, and euonymus become the winter buffet, and a single hungry week can strip a hedge to bare sticks on the deer side. The fix is unglamorous and it works: drape loose black deer netting over the plant and peg it at the ground, close enough that muzzles cannot push through, loose enough that it does not crush the shape or hold wet snow against the foliage. Install it on a calm, dry day like today, check it after the first big snowfall, and remove it in spring before new growth pushes through the mesh.

5. Vacuum the leaves out of gravel beds instead of raking them. Raking a rock or gravel bed is self-defeating: the tines drag stone into the lawn, mix soil and leaf litter down into the gravel where it becomes a weed nursery, and still leave half the leaves behind. A leaf vacuum, or a blower worked low and slow in short passes on a dry day, lifts the leaf layer off while the stone stays put, and dry leaves like this week's come up clean instead of smearing into a wet mat. Work from the house outward so you are not blowing debris back onto finished sections, and empty the shredded catch straight into the compost or leaf mould pile. Ten quiet minutes per bed now saves a spring weekend of picking decomposed leaf paste out of decorative stone by hand.

🎶 Ron Hairemy's Songs That Guarantee LAWNgevity 🎵🌱🔥

Montreal's choir-sized indie anthem, Spock singing about a hobbit, immortal melodeath, Indigenous bars from the Rez Kids, dub from the South Island, and a semi-charmed closer. Logic not included, vibes guaranteed.

🎸 Momentum
😂 Morale
🧠 Focus
⚔️ Endurance
🎤 Reflection
🌌 Creativity

All music. No filler.
(Except comedy… because everybody needs a laugh.)
No Nickelback.
No Slipknot.
No T-Swizzle.
As it should be.

Canadian Track'O'The Day: "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire (clean ✅). Arcade Fire come from Montreal, Quebec, and "Wake Up" is the surging closing anthem of their 2004 debut album Funeral, a record made in the shadow of actual family loss that somehow sounds like a stadium learning to breathe again 🇨🇦🔥. The band went on to win the Grammy for Album of the Year with The Suburbs, but this is the song that started the fire: wordless choir chorus, pounding heart, zero cynicism. For me, it is the sound a cold Edmonton morning needs, a reminder that waking up is itself an act of defiance when the year has been heavy. Play it loud on the drive and arrive already awake 🎶.

Today's Musical Funny-Bone: "The Ballad Of Bilbo Baggins" by Leonard Nimoy (clean ✅). Yes, crew, Mr. Spock himself recorded a swinging little Hobbit anthem in 1968 for his album The Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy, complete with dancing Hobbit footage that became a beloved camp artifact decades before the internet got hold of it 🖖🧙. It is earnest, it is ridiculous, and it is completely committed, which is exactly why it works: Nimoy never winks, and the song struts like Middle Earth had a house band. I love it as proof that a legend can have a sense of humour about himself and lose nothing. Queue it when the day needs its seriousness deflated 🎸.

Hair Whippin', Head Bangin', Finger Blazin' Therapy: "The Immortal" by Arch Enemy (clean ✅, full melodic death metal with harsh vocals). Arch Enemy, built in Sweden around guitarist Michael Amott after his Carcass years, open their 1999 album Burning Bridges with this one, and it is Johan Liiva on vocals, raw and furious over riffs that swing as hard as they shred 🌑🔥. Burning Bridges is the album where the band's melodic twin-guitar identity locks into place, the blueprint everything after it was built on. For me, it is perfect November fuel: dark mornings, warm cab, and a riff that refuses to let the day start slow. Play it like the frost owes you money 🎃.

Tongue Trippin', Bar Spittin', Beat Killin' Bars: "The Warriors" by Snotty Nose Rez Kids [E: explicit language]. Snotty Nose Rez Kids are Darren "Young D" Metz and Quinton "Yung Trybez" Nyce, a Haisla Nation duo from Kitamaat Village, British Columbia, who built a national name on albums like Trapline and a live show that turns every room into a community event 🎤🔥. "The Warriors" is them at full charge: proud, funny, and confrontational in the best way, carrying Indigenous resilience over a beat that struts. Dropping it the same week as Indigenous Veterans Day feels right to me, because it is the same story Tommy Prince lived, told in a new generation's language: we are still here, and we are not quiet about it. Play it with the volume up and the respect on ✊.

Māori Track / Aotearoa Pick: "Love Your Ways" by Salmonella Dub (clean ✅). Salmonella Dub formed in Christchurch in 1993 and basically invented Aotearoa's homegrown dub, reggae, and drum and bass fusion, taking it from South Island dancefloors to festival main stages 🌊🎤. "Love Your Ways," from their 2003 album One Drop East era, is their warmest calling card, and it comes from the years when their frontman was Tiki Taane, who is Māori of Ngāti Maniapoto descent, so I am filing this one as an Aotearoa pick with a genuine Māori voice at its centre, noted straight. For me, it is pure summer gravity, the sound of a country heading into long evenings while we count down to sunset at 5:55 PM. Steal a little of it for your afternoon 🌅.

Ron Hairemy Spotlight: "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind (clean per Spotify ✅, but be straight with yourself: the lyric is a smiling pop song about a crystal meth spiral, and that contrast is the whole point). Third Eye Blind come from San Francisco, and this was the breakout single from their 1997 self-titled debut, a top five Billboard hit with one of the most singable choruses of the decade wrapped around Stephan Jenkins' lyric about addiction and wanting something else 🎸✨. That sugar-and-rot combination is why it has lasted: it sounds like the best day of summer and reads like a warning label. For me, it is a reminder that the catchiest surfaces can hide the heaviest stories, in songs and in people, and to listen twice before judging either. Play it on the sunny drive home and actually hear it this time 🚗.

That's the goal. That's LAWNgevity. 🌱🔥

🌅 Conclusion

Tommy Prince fixed a cut wire in an open field dressed as a farmer, then came home and spent decades fixing a cut promise, and he never stopped showing up for either fight 🎖️🌺. Your pro action hook for the week is right there in the Deep Dive: use this warm, dry stretch to net one cedar before the deer find it and peel the dead fabric out of one bed while the ground still cooperates 🔧. Shoutout to Sammy, holding the fort while home is two addresses at once, to Matt and Kyle and the truck runs still to come, and to Django and Snakey-Poo, supervising the boxes and approving none of them 🐈📦. Indigenous Veterans Day is Sunday and Remembrance Day follows Tuesday, so wear the poppy like you mean it this week. If you liked today's blog, be sure to star, speak out, and stay a while for updates. Until next time, this has been Kaitiaki Hamon. Keep your stick on the ice. And may the Force be with you. Always! Ka kite, landscaping whānau!

Sincerely,
Kaitiaki Hamon (Ron Hairemy)

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