A bit of an odd statement for me right. Because I like colour, a fair bit of colour. But there is just something about grey autumn days that I love. We have had a few lately. I love a walk on those grey days, hopefully out of the wind so the ravine is a great place. Then home for something hot and a little chocolate.
This was the view from the veranda early one morning last week. You will hear me say it many times. I love the architecture of the oaks.
We have seen Blue Jays here before but saw something quite interesting in the last few days. There would be 5 or 6 that would swoop in and busy themselves finding acorns.
If you look carefully you can see the acorn in his beak. We watched, trying to figure out whether they ate them whole, were carrying them away or were stashing them. They moved so quickly twisting and turning so we couldn't see the whole procedure. The most likely seems that they would take the acorn somewhere where they felt safe and proceed to crack it open and eat it.
Pat has been very busy outside. He and his bobcat have become one. Our driveway sits low so he has been busy moving earth. He has built up the driveway to the garage, lowered others spots and added berms to reroute some of the runoff that will come next spring. He has a number of piles of beautiful topsoil that we will use for gardening areas and he has prepped some of the areas where we will hopefully plant into next spring.
He has also spread a fairly large load of gravel and will spread another large load this week.
We have been in Saskatoon the last few days, a whirlwind as usual dividing our time between kids, grandkids, appointments and shopping. We are coming to recognize this routine as a part of our new life. I spent the better part of Friday at the quilt show. Brooke and I had a great time Saturday afternoon going for tea and doing errands. The roof on the playhouse is shingled, Ian's gate is fixed and the leaves in his yard are raked. I have new jeans and am still on the hunt for shoes. I think we have purchased the last of the light fixtures and that has not been an easy task.
We finally made time for the Farmer's Market Saturday morning, the first time since we moved and we have just passed the six month mark.
I usually try and finish with a great photo this time you get mundane.
I thought I would start this post with a comment or two about city versus country since this blog is partly about that transition. I mentioned in the last post that we have a family member in hospital. She has now been moved to Regina which is a two hour drive each way. No hope of dropping in for a quick visit and if you think parking is miserable at Saskatoon's hospitals you should check out the General in Regina. Thankfully she has family in Regina and it is easy for them to visit. Give thanks for the hospital down the street.
The other comment is about something annoying. I had started this post and had 8 pictures almost uploaded and the power flickered off. That is what is does, it only lasts long enough to break the internet connection and necessitate clock resetting. I have given up on some of our clocks. But the internet connection takes a few minutes to come back and since the upload wasn't quite finished I had to start over. Ten minutes later I am back where I started. Give thanks for high speed internet and power that doesn't flicker.
Ian was down for a visit, the main purpose was to use his moose tag.
He saw this girl his very first morning, decided she was small and besides it was only his first day. He went home with his tag in his pocket. Some days not spotting anything and others only cows with calves. He was a little disappointed but we are looking forward to another visit in November.
We had a wonderful thanksgiving weekend. Zachary, Heather and the girls were here. They arrived late Thursday evening. Friday it rained so we stayed in entertaining ourselves in a variety of ways.
Jumping on the dog bed was one of Norah's.
Saturday we were able to get out. It was very windy but fairly pleasant down in the ravine.
We celebrated Thanksgiving on Sunday and had a wonderful time with family members that were here. We managed to fit 16 into the dining room with actually room for a couple more. I had hoped to have dinner in the veranda but it was just a little too chilly. My first time with a large crowd and a dishwasher, a dishwasher is a wonderful thing.
Brooke and Norah had a chance to meet their new cousin Abby ( 7 weeks old). Brooke was quite taken with her and kept Kate company when she was nursing.
As I have mentioned we had a fairly decent garden. The carrots included some prize winners in the size category and were still tender and sweet. Pat dug one that was about a foot long and 4 inches across. No splits or cracks. We wish we had planted more. I am guessing the loose soil is what allowed them to grow so big. The girls have an opportunity to garden in Saskatoon but were eager to help Pat dig our carrots and parsnips.
Once the digging was done it was time for a walk.
It is difficult to see the back of the house but Pat managed to catch this shot with the telephoto from the other side of the ravine. Glorious autumn colours for Saskatchewan with the harvested field in the background.
I would like to give thanks. Fifty plus years enjoying the benefits of city life. Then the chance to live in a very beautiful corner of our country. I have just returned from a walk in the ravine. I stopped and sat on our log bench by the beaver dam. A fresh breeze rustling the dry leaves in the aspen, steel grey clouds silently sliding over my head. This mornings minor annoyances vanish.
In previous years we have been have been awe struck watching the full moon rise over our ravine. Last spring before we moved we invited our book club to come for a visit, timing their visit with the full moon. As it turns out this year the full moon and the autumnal equinox were a day or two apart. When this happens you get a Harvest Moon.
Half the book club was able to come. They arrived Thursday the 19th. We missed the moonrise that evening due to clouds. Our timing was off the next evening. But, by Saturday we were ready sitting outside with beverages and a fire waiting for the moon to rise and it was worth the wait. It was spectacular.
The photo is a little grainy because of the zoom but this gives you an idea of what we saw.
While the Slow Book Club was here we did a little hiking on the trails the Esterhazy bike club has developed
But they were also eager participants in Pat's work crew. We have a pond at the bottom of the ravine that is fed by a creek that runs in a torrent in the spring and then diminishes considerably through the summer. Beavers had built a large dam and we built a bridge over a portion of it to make crossing easier. The beavers are gone now, so there is no one to do the maintenance on the dam for us. The opening in the dam has become bigger and is now in a different spot. I tell you all this because Pat led the work detail which moved and refurbished the bridge. A bridge is much better than a couple of slippery logs.
This post has taken me a while to get to. I intended to post Monday the 23rd, but another side of rural life interfered. In one week I was in Yorkton 3 times ( a family member in the hospital) Moosomin once ( quilt store open house), Regina once ( to pick up Pat's mom at the airport) and Winnipeg once (Ikea). I swear after I take Maureen's van back today ( we traded vehicles for the trip to Winnipeg) I am not getting in a vehicle for days. I am still not used to spending so much time in a vehicle. In Saskatoon we walked or biked using the car very little. Once we are settled with most of the renovating done I am hoping a weekly trip to Esterhazy will suffice.
It has been a glorious autumn and I thought I would share a couple of photos of ravine.
The last one is sunrise Sunday. Moments like this make up for the hundreds of kilometres I travelled last week.
