Two Months One Post

As the title indicates, November was missed in written form but I do have a photo or two.

Up to this point the wildlife has been a source of enjoyment, that may change but for now watching is interesting and often makes us smile

Squirrels are around and commonplace.  This morning it was the squirrel, his nut and the light that caught my eye.  A beautiful sunny morning.

 

But as we know November is typically a grey month.  I like the greyness of November, the muted and linear landscape.

I love the mistiness, the neutrals, not a spot of colour.

We had visitors towards the end of November. Pat's brother and his daughter visited from California.

Brave souls to come from California to Saskatchewan in November.

There was tobogganing, skating on the pond, dancing and puzzling.  It is really too bad we don't have a photo of Erika skating on the pond, it is a rare event for SK natives never mind a California girl.

I was given dance lessons. 

(No photos of me, consequences of such a photo were discussed)

Pat is a fan of puzzles and so is Erika. We had a half a dozen or so children's puzzles ranging from 80 to 300 pieces.  All were completed, Erika has impressive pattern and shape recognition for a six year old.

In case you are curious the sign reads "Uncle Pat and Erika's puzzles".

We had friends from Saskatoon come for the December full moon.

Friday the fifth we were out for an hour and a half snowshoeing in the moonlight.

Absolutely no clouds, around -10˚ and bright enough for shadows. It was magical.

The other magical phenomenon we experienced were the fairy lights in the trees.  Because it was so bright the frost was twinkling.  When looking through the trees at the sky it was hard to tell the difference between the stars and the twinkling frost. I wish I had a picture to share.

Saturday evening we had friends from the community out for more snowshoeing and a potluck dinner. The moon was completely full that evening, no clouds and cooperative temperatures but no frost in the trees so no fairy lights.

Pat had a project or two lined up for Don while Lynne and I sewed.  We had been wanting to clear the creek in the ravine out a bit and burn the deadwood.  Pat and Don did the clearing and on Sunday we had a big bonfire with tea and chocolate.

Greetings from the ravine!

We had a wonderful weekend, Pat had told Don to come prepared to spend the weekend outside and they did.  Lynne and I had a mix of inside and out.

Another wildlife spotting.  We have spotted a family? of racoons three or four times.

The first time scratching around under some oak trees, we couldn't figure out what they were doing.  We checked and found the shells of cracked acorns littered under the trees.

The next time they were back they were close enough to get pictures.

We watched them move off one day thinking they were headed to the compost pile, nope they cruised right by, either they haven't found it yet or they are not interested.

I really hope I am not cursing them in a future post.

In the project queue, the basement bathroom beckons. That will start in the new year.

We have been fine tuning the cold room and have a little work to do in what we call the mechanical room.  Less pressure this year, we are finding more time to enjoy where we are. Spending time snowshoeing, watching stars, fires, squirrels and racoons. 

Sunrise

Sunset

We have cut some brush to manage blowing snow, just pretend the snow fence is part of the sunset.

Thanksgiving

It has been a glorious October.

I decided that it was important to document this in both words and photos.  It will be invaluable this winter.
We were so happy to have Heather and the girls here for Thanksgiving weekend.  Zachary is in the middle of a project that has been all consuming since about May.  As a result he stayed at home working all weekend.
We took advantage of the great weather to do some walking on the trails we have groomed.

It was a motorized weekend as well, the girls were thrilled to drive the skid steer with Pop.

Pat tells me they took to it very well, Norah's short arms were a bit of a problem but she still managed to do turns with the sticks.
The cab in the bobcat is small and you have to be able to put the safety bar down before it will start.  No room for me to get in the cab with Pat and get firsthand driving tips like the girls, I will have go solo someday.

The next country visit highlight involved a ride in the combine.

Both girls were quite excited about their ride.  Modern combines come equipped with a ride along seat that even includes a seat belt. Somebodies thinking.

Garden harvest was another item on the agenda.  As we were away all of June we planted a limited number of vegetables.  We had a great bean,carrot and parsnip crop. The garlic suffered the most from the hail but we were satisfied with what we harvested.  I will repeat last years comment, the absence of large trees and lots of sunshine is a good thing.

After the girls left we got busy with our garden expansion plans.  We about doubled the vegetable part.  

We tried not to get carried away keeping in mind that we have a large area in front of the house that is slotted for fruit trees and berry bushes and I also plan to put some vegetables there as well.  

The angle of the photo makes it look bigger than it is ( that's what I tell myself ). The area you see in the background in front of the door and window will also be planted.  It is south facing so we are expecting it to be a great spot for heat loving vegetables and herbs.
With all the soil moving that was done the great pile of weed covered topsoil that was behind the garage has been cleared away. It is now up to mother nature to reclaim the forest.

It is satisfying to see this outside work completed and we are so thankful for the sunny dry weather.
Pat is out right now starting work on the second area on our road that has drainage problems.  Photos next time, unless it is buried under snow.

Autumn is the best time of year for sunrise/sunset photos.  I will leave you with this sunrise photo  from the land of living skies.

Outside

I thought I would start this post with a photo of a family celebration.  Pat's brother Tom turned 50 on August 30th.  It was the long weekend so two of our children were here as well as Pat's aunt and uncle from Fredericton. 

There was another large table of family members that included Tom's wife, daughters and partners but this photo has the birthday boy front and centre so the best choice.  A fabulous day on the veranda.

We have been quite successful at completing our outside tasks.  In fact we have pretty much finished what we had hoped to.
First, the back step extension and railing are done.  The finished project is a compilation of ideas from Linda, Pat and the internet.  We are pleased with the finished project and really glad to cross it off the list.

The railing is just the right height to lean on, drink your coffee etc. and look out over the ravine.

Second was the front step.  We had the deck but it was a big step up.  We had stacked patio blocks for the short term, but it is surprising how a step gives it that finished look.

Third is the front of the house, we (Pat and his skid steer) have been moving earth.  Our thoughts changed about the driveway and we now have a circular one. The circle is a little tight but all in all, we much prefer the look and function of this one.

Pat has moved in a lot of topsoil in preparation for planting next spring.  The next step will be to fine tune it and that "we" will be Pat and Linda with their shovels and rakes, no skid steer.
Planting ideas will be fine tuned as well.  We know it will include a variety of fruit trees, berry bushes, flowering shrubs and perennials.

We have a vegetable garden expansion that needs to happen this fall and don't anticipate it taking too long. ( I hope I don't regret those words).  We will go with the cardboard base to smother weeds and grass, then buckets (Bobcat) of topsoil. We used this method for the original garden,it was quite successful so why mess with success.
Lastly there is the south side of the house and that is on the next year list.  One can only do and decide so much.

Not much to look at but this represents quite a few skid steer hours.  As we complete these projects we are reminded that we made the right decision when we chose skid steer over tractor.

Drainage issues and the road were a problem last spring.  We had been muling around a few ideas as to how to deal with this.  When we were in Scotland we saw a great idea for an open culvert. A simple concept that we hope works as well for us. Pat just finished that project yesterday,  I'll let you know next spring as to how well it worked.  Another tick on the list.

Lastly, we have been doing a little trail maintenance and building, a task we actually enjoy.  Pat runs the brush cutter and I come behind with one of the best tools in the world.  It is a gas powered weed wacker on wheels.

It was originally purchased to tame the ground level foliage around the house. I am aiming for a gentile wildness for our yard and this seems to be the perfect machine for that look.
We discovered that it works very well on the trails and consequently we are able to have a gentile wildness on the trails as well.
 

This is the trail just below the house.
Can you smell the aroma of forest, that sharp smell of leaves in the autumn?  Do you hear the wind rustling the leaves, do you see the leaves as they drift to the ground?  The trails are tidied and it is glorious in the woods at this time of year.

The Light

Last Saturday we finished the caulking.  We had finished the siding the week before and plugged away at the caulking through the week.  On Saturday we had time to finish, put away the tools and clean up before the 36 hours of soaking sheets of rain started.  Great timing I would say.  
Over the last two days Pat took down the chains for the old windows and we tidied and cleaned.  There is still trim to put around the new windows. We need it to cover up the expanding foam we used to keep creepy crawlies out. It is an inside job and will get done a little later. We have the veranda back and it is great. Just in time for visiting family this weekend.

Next on the list is making the area off the verandas back door a little larger and putting on a railing.  A one point we were going to put a large set of steps across the whole back but have changed our minds and without the steps it is a little crowded.  So make the top area larger and then put on a railing.  

The platform will be another 30" wider with railing on three sides.  It will make sense when I show you a done picture.

Now that I am finished with the renos I thought I would spend the rest of the post on a couple nature pictures.

The last week or two we have woken up to mist in the ravine, I will fall back on my usual line, " it is hard to describe". There is not one sliver of poet in me so I will rely on a photo that my photographer took one morning.

I have three more that I hope illustrate the incredible light we encountered on our walk Monday evening around 7pm.  This is what enthralled us as we walked down the road.

I swear no enhancing or altering other than I cropped the first two a little.  The light was golden and it was so calm the reflections are almost as sharp as the original. 

As we walked we noted that 24 hours earlier the rain had been falling in sheets and we couldn't see across the ravine.

I am loving "weather" in the country.

I Was Wrong

Remember in the last post I thought the worst (veranda wise) was was over and the siding wouldn't be too bad.  I was wrong.  The windows were a far more pleasant job.
The windows fill big spaces all at once, the siding goes on one painful board at a time. And they need caulking.  I have spoken about my dislike of painting well painting is nothing compared to the caulking required when you install Hardiplank siding.

Tom was out the first week to help Pat.  I was spared, it was on the warm side but the mosquitos were vicious so you had to douse yourself in insect repellant and stay covered.
This is the south side and the start of the project.
Over the next 10 days Pat and Pat and I worked away.

You might ask, what is all that green tape about?  You have to tape before you caulk.  Please note that each board beside each window or door is taped.
I will explain the process.  You tape sides of boards. nail heads and where the trim abuts the window frame.  You caulk with the appropriate colour.  Then carefully with you finger you smooth it into the cracks hoping that you haven't got too much and it gushes everywhere, then you peel off the tape that is now covered in caulking and hope that you don't get the **$%! caulking everywhere.  Because when you do you have to get the stinky solvent because this caulking is not water soluble.  Now remember you are dressed much warmer than you would like because the mosquitos are vicious and the sun is shining so it is very hot.
I hate caulking, it is exponentially worse than painting.
The wall above is the west wall and it is done, the south and east sides mostly done and we haven't started on the north side which has 4 windows, which means that much more taping and caulking.  We have left over siding which we thought we might use for an out building,  no, no a thousand times no.  When we are finished with the veranda I will never 
participate in siding again.

We have had some fun too.  You will know that I am not much of a hockey fan.  But our niece is engaged to the nephew of Brent McEwan one of the LA Kings scouts. 
He arranged for the Stanley Cup to come to Whitewood, SK.
There were photos ops in Emma's backyard for family and friends before it moved to the community centre. 

Hockey fan or or no to me the Stanley Cup is a part of Canadian culture and if you get a chance to have your picture taken with it you should jump on it.

The summer is zooming by.  We are in Saskatoon and took Norah and Brooke to Jerry's for supper while Zachary and Heather had an evening to themselves.  As we were waiting for our food I was remembering when we were there with them about a year ago and that I found it a little stressful.  Jerry's with a  2and a half and a 4 year old is much easier than 1 and a half and 3. This time Brooke was totally independent and so is Norah (mostly).  We had a very nice time no stress. After ice-cream and ice-cream bars were consumed without mishap we were off to what Brooke calls the "purple and green playground" and it is her favourite because there is no sand that gets in your dawg shoes!
A lot happens in a year!

Water, Wind, Hail and Windows

The post about our travels will have to wait, my photographer is still organizing the many photos he took.
We arrived home June 28th about 5 pm, it had started to rain about halfway between Yorkton and Twin Oaks.  That was the start of the rain.  It rained all day Sunday and Monday and it was raining into an already saturated soil. June had been a wet month.
As many know it has had disastrous consequences.
If you are interested in an arial tour, search Esterhazy Online, then go to Flood Flight.  You get a good ideas of the amount of water in the communities around us.
We are thankfully dry and haven't slid down the hill.
We spent the evening of July 4th and Pat all day the 5th at Round Lake helping friends with sand bagging and water management
Saturday the 5th was hot and muggy and we know what that means, storms.
We didn't see any tornados but we got hail. I have never experienced anything like that hail storm in terms of volume, size and the duration of the hail.

  

There were hails stones at least the size of golf balls.  This about a half an hour after the storm and travelling in Pat's hand for awhile.

I was sure they would break the windows in the west side of the house.  It broke one of the plexiglass windows in the veranda but no house windows.  Our neighbour and Pat's brother weren't so lucky, both had windows broken in their homes. 

Worse yet Bruce will be putting in hail damage claims for two fields of canola and one of soybeans.
We had checked out our garden on our return and been admiring our beautiful robust crop of garlic and decided that everything else was doing fairly well considering we had just put the seeds in the ground, then left for a month.  You know what's coming, here is our garden after the hail.

Yes, there were plants on the trellises and in the ground!  An inconvenience, a disappointment for us but I now have a better understanding of what it might have been like for a family whose food supply of vegetables for the next year had just been beaten into the ground.  A better understanding of Grama's 3 year old bags of rhubarb at the bottom of the freezer.  I wish I had some.
After the rain had quit we were outside having a look and a walk around.  I became aware of the sound of a roaring creek which we normally only hear during spring runoff.
We were certain the beaver dam had been breached.
Nope, the roar was from water coming down a gully on the other side of the ravine.

Runoff does come down the gully in the top picture and the bottom of the ravine does fill in the spring but nothing like this. I don't think it even rained a half an hour, but that storm dropped an incredible volume of water. The next morning the ravine was back to it's meandering summer self and all that water was making it's way to Brandon, MB.

The storm that hit us came down the Qua'pelle Valley.  Friends we had helped with sandbagging lost their dike as did many others.  They now have water up to the door knobs in their lower level. How long the water will take to subside is anyones guess.
The cliche "the power of nature" does seem to be in order. 

The next day Sunday, was a life goes on as usual day for us.  Time to start installing the windows in the veranda.  We started at 7:00 am and had 5 windows in by 1:00 pm.
Tom came out and helped Pat with the big window in the afternoon and by suppertime we had gone from this

  
to this.  We are so pleased with the windows, particularly the one where the table sits.  As we had dinner there that evening there was some discussion about we should have had it a little lower (table height) but it is what it is and it is wonderful to sit in front of that window and feel like you are outside.
Yesterday Pat and I put in 4 more.  We have the south side windows and the new door for the west side to do yet. 
I am so happy to have those windows in.  Pat tells me the bigger job is yet to come, the siding, but I tell myself that it is something we can work a little at a time and siding isn't nearly as heavy as windows.

Till next time, enjoy summer.

Not Everyone Has Leaves

The snow is gone and most of the trees have leaves, still waiting on the oaks.

It has been a long winter, Pat's birthday was the 21st of May and he rode his bike on a snowbank in the tree/fence line near our house.  Yesterday on CBC Regina they were talking about frozen water mains.  About 3 times times more than the usual and  occurring much later in the year.  Enough about weather although I am waiting for a good thunderstorm.
As I sit composing this post I am in the veranda with the windows open.  A gentle breeze rustling the leaves in the trembling aspen.  It couldn't be a more perfect day from where I am sitting.

My brother and his wife were here for the long weekend in May.  It was their first trip to this part of the country, we had a great time showing them the sights. 

Yes snow along the edge of the valley.

And yet in our ravine the crocuses were pretty much done.  You can see all the seed heads in this photo.

The last time we were in Saskatoon Pat bought his much thought about fat tire bike.

He loves it and it is actually a great bike for here.  He is all over the place on it, claiming he goes places his other bike would never go.

As I look at this photo I wonder where I could pose my sewing machine ( not a new one).

Somehow I don't think it would quite the same kind of photo unless perhaps Pat would take it on his bike to this spot.  I will have think about this.

Bruce has a large pile of oats that he has been drying.  A breakfast buffet of the best kind.  The deer and elk have worn a path to their oats .

It also creates a fantastic opportunity for photos, they are predictably there most mornings 

 Is there any lip smacking going on with the hunters in the crowd?

On another morning ride Pat startled a duck off her nest and took me back later for a photo or two.

When we went in the evening to take the photos she was no where in sight.  The first photo is the nest as it was, the second I carefully moved the grass aside with the stick you see on the left so we could get a better picture of the eggs.  We pushed grasses back into place when we left.  Hopefully mama was only away from the nest for a short time.  We are going to try and remember to check on it later.

The kitchen is done!

It is hard to see in this photo but there is a stainless steel edge along the front edge of the counter which we think is a nice detail. 

This kitchen is so much more in so many ways than the kitchen at 213.  I love it.

I cooked for five people, most with big appetites in a small inefficient kitchen and now I cook for two in a roomy efficient kitchen with a pantry that most would die for.  I'm sure there are many cooks who have experienced a similar irony.

That should be it for this month.  We are travelling for most of the month of June.  

I will have photos of Scotland and Iceland to share when we are back.

Photo credits to Pat for the whole post except the kitchen shot.

The Qu'apelle in the morning light.