Thursday, July 10/2014 - Tuesday July 15/2014

After a few short days off, it is once again back to work for me.  I have truly been busy so far this year with the girls at the nursing home taking lots of time off.  This of course is why I am working so much.
John and Casey have been busy getting the Samurai truck up and running so eventually maybe we will be able to take it out on the trails for a few rides.
With all the pounding and welding going on in the shop I hope progress is being made!!
The dogs are enjoying the nice weather and have found a full time job keeping the crows out of the yard!!  I swear, I think they just bait the dogs and take great joy at evading their numerous charges towards the fence.
The squirrel too is having a gay old time teasing them as well.   He hops along the back fence knowing full well the dogs can't get to him and chatters away like crazy.   To provide even more exciting viewing of the antics, Mr Squirrel travels over to the evergreen trees which are even closer to the fence line and chatters to the dogs.  He has provided a few hours of entertainment for both dogs.
Casey has started working for a contractor here in Leoville so that is a very good thing.  It is summer work only but perhaps he will make enough money to make some necessary repairs on his quad.  His leg is doing well.
Jace and Kim are supposed to be coming up for a day to ride and John's cousin Edward and his family are headed up to Clearwater for a week of camping so it looks like the next week will be busy as well.  I am off for 8 days soon so that is good for me!!

Wednesday, July 9/2014

Also, this week we took a quick trip along the now abandoned railway track which run through the town.  John, Casey and Myself along with Gary and Dave set off on this adventure.

I have always wanted to travel this pathway and enjoyed the ride and although it took us through some nice back country, the trail was anything but challenging.   It was smooth and boring!!

There were a few flowers along the way and of course I was compelled to stop and take their pictures.

We travelled alongside Big River for part of the trail and that gave us sprawling vistas of the marshlands that surround the river.   This truly is a paradise for moose.  We didn't see any today and that was a bit disappointing but the sheer beauty on these woodlands is phenomenal.

There were even a few areas that provide a bit of "rapid" water along the otherwise placid flow of the river.

A pretty good flow happening here

At the River Crossing

There was one particular spot along the river where we stopped for a break that provided for several nice pics.  It was at a crossing that looked rather deep and ominous but turned out to be really nothing.  Casey stepped out of his rubber boots and walked across it to check out the deepness.  It was just up to his knees so it could have been crossed had we wanted to but that was not in the plans for today.  When Casey got back out of the water, he brought a couple of bloodsuckers with him which caused a bit of a commotion until we flicked them off him!!

At the River Crossing

Casey, Dave, Gary and John

Casey, doing the "walk across" to check out the deepness

The Big River Valley 

We stopped to enjoy the view of the valley on the way back towards town.  This was truly one of the most beautiful views of the day.  With Big River meandering its way towards Green Lake, it travelled the valley floor slowly winding through the country side offering a haven for fish and providing water for the millions of creatures in the area.   Birds abound here along the river as well as the usual beaver, otter and of course the numerous four legged creatures that call this place home.

John and I are blessed to call this place home.

More of Saskatchewan's finest wild flowers

We stopped along this pasture for a refreshment and had company!!

We did not take the railway track all the way back into town.  Instead, we accessed another trail that took us through a few fields and along some pasture that eventually lead us to Timberland School.  Here, Casey and I checked out the interior and I managed to convince him to sit in one of the desks so that I could get a picture of him.

Casey having a beer, sitting in one of the few remaining desks
at Timberland School.

Final refreshment break at the Little White Church

With the school behind us, we hit the road and stopped for a final refreshment at the Little White Church.    St Paul's Anglican church sits nestled in the forest and still to this day has an occasional service on Sunday.   It has its own graveyard and has become a regular stop for us as we enjoy a refreshment and pay respects to the dead.  Total peace and tranquility surrounds the Church.

The setting sun.

The sunset was lovely once again and one has to remember to stop and enjoy.   There are so many incredible sunsets that it is easy to take them for granted.   It is nice to remember to "look up" at the end of the day and say "Thank You".

Tuesday, July 8/2014

First Tiger Lily of 2014

Casey, Susie and I went on a ride today.  John was busy catching up on his beauty rest so the three of us headed out to the trails.   I wanted to make a trip over to check out the new snowmobile shelter near Clearwater so we accessed 8 mile trail and headed over.  We had not been on this trail since the Father's Day rally and I wondered what it would be like.  As it turned out, it was not all that bad.   A few bad spots remained but we got through with no trouble.

Love the lilies - competing for the sun

Of course we had to take time to "smell the roses" of which their scent floated in the air on several occasions and I was on a mission to get the "perfect" picture of our glorious wild flowers.  They are out in force now after such a late start.

At the new shelter - currently under construction

We eventually made it over to the new shelter and I must say, I was impressed.  The folks are making a lasting structure, a much needed one for this area.   It sits on a small hill overlooking one of the Twin Lakes.  Once it is done, it will be totally awesome!

view from the shelter - does it get any better than this?

Casey, Susie and Marie at Vimy

Once we were done checking out the shelter, we headed back towards home.  My radiator was kind of acting up so we added water to prevent a situation where I would be overheating and headed back down the trail.   We stopped a few places along the way, eventually ending up at Vimy.  So far, it has been an awesome day so we decided to take the trail home and stay off the North Road.
With that in mind, we accessed a trail we don't often take which meanders several miles further paralleling the road, eventually spitting us back out onto the grid.

Indian Paintbrush

We travelled through fields of Indian Paintbrush and more roses.  Man, the smell was absolutely incredible, making the day a total success for that reason alone!!

Wild Roses

More Indian Paintbrush

Once on the grid, we travelled back to 8 Mile Trail and headed over towards Eddie's Trail and had our last refreshment stop at the little white church.  It was here that Casey was sitting on the quad looking towards the trail that travels beside and beyond the church that he exclaimed "Holy Shit Mom, we need to get out of here right now!!"  I thought there might be a bear or some other rather unfriendly beast decending upon us!!   When I looked, it was a Mom skunk and her 5 babies headed in our direction.  I tried to get the camera out in time to take a pic but Mom was not really too interested in this Kodak moment and quickly ushered the babies into the surrounding bush.  They were quite cute and a great way to end an awesome day of riding.

Mom and five baby skunks by the little white church

Sunday, June 22/2014 - Monday, July 7/ 2014

I am working full time (and more) these past few weeks so there has not been a lot of time for jumping on the quads and heading out to the great Northern Forest and the many trails we live so close to.    We managed to get one ride in and that one saw Gary join John, Casey and myself.
We headed down into The Block' and Lilac trail - always one of my favourite rides.

With the many rainstorms that we have been experiencing lately, it was nice to finally get a few days of sunshine and today was great as far as the weather went.
Once we hit "the block" we took a short detour to Heart Lake to check out the sights and sounds there and I was surprised to see that Cliff had finally recovered "the bedroom" to his house boat that is docked here at Heart Lake.   The "bedroom" had been docked way across the lake for over a year and was accessible only by boat so,  that was real nice when he wanted to spend some actual "quiet time" in the forest.

The lake was awesome and I did note that Mr. Beaver was building a new lodge and has been rather busy with that.

We left Heart Lake behind and hooked up to Lilac Trail.  Again, one of my favourite trails.  With the lilacs being so late this year, I was not able to see the signature lilac bush (that sits majestically at the entrance to this trail) in bloom this year.   I have seen it in the past and it is beautiful.

There was however this rose bush climbing a tree at one of the few homestead sites along the trail.  The aroma of roses floating in the air along this trail was incredible and one I soon will not forget.
Eventually Lilac Trail gave way to the main trail to Hooker Lake.  It was on this trail that we came across a few other quadding folks that we knew and stopped to have a quick chat.
It was at this point that the water had claimed the trail and we had to traverse this area rather slowly hoping that there were no hidden trees or holes to stop us!!   There has never been this kind of water here at this particular spot on the trail.  What used to be the "T" junction was now a huge pond.  I am sure the woodland creatures were not too happy with losing this kind of real estate to the water lovers!!

We traversed the water without incident and were soon enjoying a refreshment at Hooker Lake.  Again, it was quiet and peaceful but Mr. Squirrel was not too impressed with us invading his sanctuary and chattered to us all the while we were there.   The loons on the lake said hello as well.   Man, there is something about the call of the loon that reminds you of "wilderness".

From Hooker Lake we started towards home.  Of course I had to stop a few times for my flower pictures (the guys have stopped complaining about my numerous stops) and a photo op of me in the old truck box,  Then, it was down the trail to the snowmobile shelter at Five Corners.

Marie in the old truck box

At the shelter we encountered a little bunny rabbit who was definitely not very fearful of us as he hung around for quite a while checking out the quads and us.  He provided us some amusing entertainment before he eventually hopped away and carried on with his business.
From the shelter, we accessed the return trail which led us through several mud puddles and eventually back to the start of Lilac Trail.   We had done a large loop today and remained totally unscathed!!
Once we climbed out of the Block, we accessed one final trail….. Three Mile.   Guaranteed to provide excitement and perhaps get you stuck up to you knees and things!!   Gary is always up for a challenge and none of us were disappointed.    With John in the lead and Gary riding second. Casey and I were dragging the tail.   We got to the "challenging" spot on the trail and John and Gary flew thorough the part of the trail I refer to as "the highway" without any difficulty.  Casey and I managed to get stuck twice and needed to winch our way out.  I of course, blame that on the other two as they dug up the trail for us!!
Eventually we did catch up to the John and Gary.  Casey took the lead from there and of course didn't know how to avoid the upcoming nonsense and headed left when he should have stayed right.  LOL
Again, we found ourselves stuck and needing the winch.   John, who knew to stay right followed us and eventually all three of us got stuck!!   What a gong show!!   We weren't horribly stuck and we all got out without much difficulty but,  by that time,  we were all covered in mud.   There were smiles on the guys faces so all was good.  They enjoyed this part of the trail the best…. Me, not so much!!
The only good thing about going this way is that at the end of this trail, we are only 3 miles from town so it is an easy trip home.   Another great day comes to an end here in Northern Saskatchewan.

The baby crows are growing!!   Noisy little buggers though!!