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.

City Mouse 56 Years, Country Mouse 1 Year

April 21st marks our one year anniversary.  It has been busy year and as with most years at this time in our lives it has zoomed by.
I love living in the country. We are living within nature, much more aware and apart of it.  We live  surrounded by fields and trees.  Sunrise and sunset are a part of everyday life as is the flora and fauna. I step out the door and walk into the forest and the fields.

It is safe to say we are settling in.  A trip to Saskatoon every 4-6 weeks gives us enough contact with family and friends that we are not missing them so much.
The internet and telephone take care of contact between visits.

Having gone on about the beauty of the country, I must say it has become a truly ugly day.  Rain, wind driving the rain and about 5˚C.  We were out for a short walk this morning, we knew the rain was coming and I wanted to get a crocus picture for you.

Take note of the hairs on the crocus. They are bent almost completely backwards in the wind that is roaring down the ravine.  The crocuses are about 4" high at best.  If the sun would shine I know they wouldn't be so afraid to stick their heads a little higher above ground.
Earlier in the week I was out for a walk and picked a few pussy willows as well.  Now I did not have pruners with me so chose smaller branches but they to seem to be stunted and are also waiting for some sunshine and warmer temperatures.

Pat spent a number of hours last fall moving soil and changing where the runoff from the snowbanks will go.  It was a happy day when they started to melt and the water went behind the garage and then down into the ravine.  Last year it went across the driveway in front of the garage.
We still have runoff and road issues but that is another day's problem and post.  In this picture you can see the little river coming from behind the garage and gurgling it's way down the hill.

We had all our children, grandchildren and their dogs visiting over Easter weekend.  We built snow forts, slid down big snowbanks, flew kites and admired the very early crocuses all in the same weekend.
Pat's mom, a couple of his siblings and their families joined us for Easter dinner.It was just warm enough that we ate on the veranda.  A wonderful day.

One last photo, a Nana's prerogative.

Excitement Plus

Only six days between posts, there was excitement around here this morning.
It was about 6:30 and I was in the guest room/Linda's exercise room. I was in front of the east window and noticed the back of an owl in the tree below me.  I was off in a panic to get the camera and calling to Pat as I scurried.  I was sure he would fly away before I got back.  We managed to get some pictures with both of us taking credit for this one although we aren't sure who took it.  I managed to hit the window with the lens fully extended which he heard and swivelled to look.  How fortuitous.

  
In profile as well.

It was pretty exciting for me, I have seen Great Horned Owls fly over but I have never had a chance to photograph them and observe them for awhile.  This guy/gal was still there when I left 45 minutes or so later.

We were also interested to note that there were about half a dozen Blue Jays in the same tree.  The Horned Owl didn't move although it did seem that he was watching them, his  head slowly rotating at times.  

I love the blue of his back against the rust coloured lichen on the tree.
Very windy here today, a good enough excuse for me to stay inside and sew.  A beautiful day yesterday we had our first tea of the season in the veranda.

A Long Time

As I organize my self to do a post I always go back and read the last one I have done.  It orients my thoughts and keeps me from repeating myself.  It has been a month since my last post.  When I started I tried to post weekly and the time between posts has gradually lengthened.  I think monthly will be my new norm.  The renovating has slowed down and/or it is taking longer.

We were in Saskatoon for Brooke's fourth birthday.  It was a great time.  She wanted a 
"dance party" complete with disco ball and that was what she had.  After an hour of many children under the age of five all dance partying I was looking for a calmer place.  With foresight we had arranged coffee and a visit elsewhere.

Two hours later Zarchary and Heather hosted the family birthday dinner as Brooke, Ian, Carmen, Heather and I all celebrate our birthdays in March.  Another great time and a chance to visit with Heather's family.

Last weekend I was to a quilt retreat with a couple of friends from my new neighbourhood.  It has been a number of years since I have done this and it was great.  No thought to meals, dishes or anything else that might interfere with me and my sewing machine.  We were at Wolfe Creek Circle Square Ranch.  Fairly basic accommodation but served some of the best food I have had at a retreat. Too much as usual but I won't go into that.
For quilters only:  Shirley of Shirley's Sewing Room demo'd a ruler for pineapple blocks that is the slickest I've seen. I am in awe of the person with the math brain who designed it.  I won't go into detail here but if anyone is interested get in touch and I will give you more details.  For the Smarter Than you Think crowd it has the little grey square that you can click on with your "smart something" and watch a video about the ruler.  I think Clive might be onto something he just didn't choose the right examples for me!

Back to the more general topics.
We have new flooring in the living room and dining room.  The old hardwood wasn't too bad but by putting in new floor we were able to do move a furnace duct, fill some holes and do some levelling.  I really like the new floor, particularly the texture you get in oak.

Also it might just be my imagination but to my eye the wider boards make the room look wider which is a good thing.
Pat has started on the kitchen counter tops so far so good, they should be done by the time I post again.

We have had some warmer days. There have been moments where I am convinced that spring is on its way.  The squirrels have been spotted in one of their favourite spots and there is brown grass visible.

It snowed last night and this is the view from the front step.

Wayne Miskolczi of CBC radio weather fame assures me that the temperatures will warm up and the snow will melt. It just takes a lot longer if you still has a lot of snow cover. Do you think we fit into that category?
I long for the sound of running water, pussy willows and crocuses on the south-facing side of the ravine.

Some Went Out Everyday

The very cold weekend has come and gone.  We were able to do some trip planning and as the title says, some people went out everyday.  I was not one of the some.
The group arrived early Thursday afternoon and  according to Environment Canada it was to be the best day of the weekend so out we went.  It was about -16°C and not much wind.  The photographer for the weekend was Trent Watts.  Now he admits to a little enhancement of the blue in the sky but I can assure you that it really was an incredible blue.  As for the clouds, I don't think I have ever seen them in this configuration.  The aurora borealis in cloud to my eye.

The next day dawned colder but brought sun dogs that were incredible!  Especially when you are in a warm house marvelling about them through the window.

We all got out on snowshoes again that day, but we stayed on this side of the ravine in the trees.  It was in the low minus 20's with wind taking it to the minus 30's.

This photo courtesy of Cathy Watts

Notice the bulkier, warmer coat and pants.  

Saturday March 1 broke records.  It was -40°C, with the wind chill -51°C.  This is where we get to "some went out everyday."  Cathy, Trent and Pat were out, Trent and Pat twice.  Don, Lynne and I stayed in the house with latte's in hand.

I hope it is safe for me to wax on about winter after having admitted that there are days that I just ignore it.  The winter landscape is beautiful and wind an incredible sculptor.

That is probably enough about winter.  This post is photo heavy but one last one for those who don't live on the prairies anymore.  Can you feel that wind, does it take your breath away?