Sunday, May 17/2015 - Saturday, May 23/2015

Sunday marked my first day back to work and I ended up working for one day and three nights so I was quickly brought back into the workforce and found out that I still remembered how to pass medications and wipe bums!!  There are just some things one does not soon forget.  It was good to be back at work but I sure noted that I was a bit out of shape.  My feet ached, my back ached and my shoulders ached.   Man, the old grey mare, she ain't what she used to be!!
John and I took the Sami for a scoot out on the trails and once again we were faced with the fact that the trails were very dry and forest fires would be a real possibility this year if we do not get rain. Now that would be awful so I will be praying for the rains to come once the farmers have their crops in and my garden has been sown.
We still have no propane in the motor home and so continue to live between the camper and the bus. We shower and cook in the camper and I have been spending a few days in the big bed in the bus when I came off the three night shifts I worked.  I thought it would be quieter over there now that the house next door has sold and the new owners are doing some renovations.  It was good to sleep in our old bed for now I truly feel like I am home!!

Heading to the Shelter

Snowmobile shelter

The fire ring at the shelter

Crocuses are out

Hogan taking a dip

Fetching the stick just never gets old!!

                                                          Going down Eddies Trail

We managed to get out on the quads this week and it was good to be back riding.  The trail was more than rough and one part of it was full of nasty face slappers.  I got a few bruises out of that part of the trail and at times, a few rather nasty expletives were heard coming out of my mouth!!  Dave took the side by side and it seemed to handle the trail quite well although he was the first to get wet as it sits so low to the ground and there were a few deeper water holes to go through!

Dave and his new ride

Gary

Jeff

Beaver dam

Looks nasty but was an easy trail

                                               
The trail offered a variety of terrain but it was not until John, Gary and I decided to try to conquer 3 Mile that the real "fun" began.  Hell, we were not even 10 yards into the trail before Gary fell into John's tracks and ended up quite stuck.   Nothing my winch couldn't handle though and he was soon off to the races.  It was my turn next and it was not too long before I was up to my knees in the the water and muck!!  Jesus, Mary and Joseph..... it was gross.
Well, we did get through and the tally was....Marie, stuck twice, John stuck three times and Gary, once.  WHAT...... Gary, only once.  What the hell.   Now,  we can say "been there, done that" and stay away from there for the rest of the summer!!

Stuck in 3 mile

Beverage

Horses at the end of 3 mile

Headed out for our first load of wood

Mission  accomplished

We also managed to get a much needed load of wood for the fireplace.  They have done more logging at the end of the North Road and once again, there is an abundance of odds and ends that are most suitable for our needs.  It looks like we will have more than enough again to last us the summer.  We just need to gather it and I am thinking that three loads will pretty much fill the wood bin.
Of course we had to enjoy the fruits of our labour that same evening and we say around the fire having a few beverages.  Hogan climbed up on the old chair and much to his surprise, fell right through the seat and landed on the ground.  He wasn't too terribly rattled by the whole experience as he just curled up underneath the now defunct chair and fell asleep!!

Hogan fell through the chair

Huard Lake trail

Heading into Island Lake

Island Lake

We also took a trip again in the Sami this week to see if we could actually get to Huard Lake from the North Road.  Last year the logging company took out the bridge and built some berms across the road to discourage any travelling but we did not earlier in the week that someone had made a path off to one side of the berm.  Now that was just an invitation to explore so off we went.
The going was pretty tight and next time I am thinking that it would be so much easier to simply go up and over the berm instead of trying to squeeze between the rocks.  We made it though and then faced the little creek which proved to be a simple task as well.  There was a pretty good bottom on it so we simply went down into it and up the other side......no problem!!
We did get around the second and third berms without too much difficulty and then we were home free.  It was clear sailing all the way to Huard.

We hooked up to the Clearwater Grid and scooted over to Mystery and up to the new cabin that someone is building on the hill beside the Twin Lakes.  We sat on the deck and enjoyed the scenery then headed  down the trail that would once again hook up to the Clearwater Grid.  At one point, there was a sign that said "Do Not Enter....Dangerous Trail".  Well, ask me if we paid any head to that silly little sign.  We just had to go see what was sooooo dangerous.  As it turned out, there was no danger anywhere on this trail.  There were a few trees down but nothing that was not easily avoided so I am not sure what the reasoning is behind the signage.  Actually the trail we were on earlier in the week with Gary and Dave was far more "dangerous" that this one.  At least I had some bruised to show for that one!!
We then headed down to check out the trail that led to Island Lake.  There was one rather deep water crossing ( probably about 3 feet deep) but the Sami was not concerned and there was one area of trail that had some huge run off gullies.   The sami was not concerned by this either and we got to the lake without incident.  It was breezy on the lake and probably not a real pleasant day for fishing.  No one was there anyway.
We soon headed back to the Meadow Lake Grid and headed home. But, not before we checked out the little camping area at Utah Lake.  It too was deserted  but it is always nice to see the lake and imagine catching "the big one" down here!!
We did see a big black bear on the way to Utah and wondered if it was the same one we had seen earlier in the week when we went to get the wood.  He certainly was big and he was real healthy looking with his shiny black coat!!
It was a busy week but a good one.  Life is good and living this close to the forest is even better!!

Sunday, May 10/2015 - Saturday, May 16/2015

We started out this week with Mother's Day.  John's Mom and Georgie (her friend - actually these two girls are forever on the go and have a real Thelma and Louise thing going on!!) joined us at the farm for coffee and cake.  I am to meet them in the city on Tuesday for the Mother's Day luncheon so that is usually fun.
Bernie and Gloria had travelled to Yorkton to see Gloria's Mom and celebrate her 80th birthday so that left John and I at the farm to look after the cats and Coors.  We had an awesome fire one night and both dogs seemed to enjoy the much needed heat!!
Monday and Tuesday found us packing the trailer and getting ready to head out.   My appointment with the eye surgeon will not be for several weeks (retinal issues) so we are heading home.  The last leg of our journey is upon us and I can't wait to finally be home!!
John decided to take the little Pontiac Sunrunner back to Leoville with us so that he could switch the motor out and put it into the Samurai.  I guess that is his "summer" project!!  Of course, I was the one elected to drive it there so we had to buy a new battery and John had to check to see if all the necessary parts (like the brakes!!) were working!!  As it turned out, they were and we bought a permit for it and headed out on Wednesday morning.  The little thing ran like a top and if the poor thing didn't look so banged up and unloved, it would have been a great little car to get me back and forth to Spiritwood or PA or Saskatoon for that matter.   Oh well, we always knew that it would have the "Casey" touch once we gave it to him and it most definitely did!!
The rest of the week, was spent unloading the trailer and the camper and getting the motorhome "livable" again.
We even left ourselves enough wood in the storage trailer for a couple of good fires!!

Coors

Bonfire at the farm

Georgie, Marie and John's mom, Jackie

Snow Geese on the way to Leoville

Once in Leoville, it was nice to be able to just sit and do nothing if that is what one chose to do.  We did take a trip down the North Road to see if the leaves were out and were actually surprised to see that they were still only buds.  No real leaves yet but with a bit of rain and lots of sunshine, it sure won't be long before they burst forth.

Beer cruise out the north road

Vimy Lake

We took a quick trip down to Vimy Lake and were very surprised to see that the road down to the lake was completely dry.  It has been years since that has happened.  Usually it is quad of four wheel drive only.  This year was quite different!!

Beverage

First fire up north

Table Shirley picked up for John

We connected once again with the neighbours and caught up on all their winter time news.  Shirley had put away a small Saskatchewan Roughrider table last fall for John and brought it over so now he has an official place to set his beer!!
On Saturday,  John and I were sitting in the mancave watching a John Denver Special of the Public Broadcasting Network (we live a very exciting life!!) when the lights went out and we ended up with no power ..... right in the middle of the song Rocky Mountain High!!  Well, John gets up and starts flipping the breaker back on and there was an incredible flash of light in the mancave where I had stayed.  Jesus, it was so bright that I thought it must be the Second coming of Christ and I was about to get down on my knees when I caught the faint smell of burning wood.  Oh Jesus, Mary and Joseph!!  It wasn't until John climbed up into the loft (nothing but wood chips up there) that he saw the smoke and determined that we had better call the local fire department as there was more than likely a fire in the wall of the man cave!!  So, a 911 call was made and about 15 minutes later the volunteers arrived and with in an hour, the fire was out and the man cave was still intact.  It looked like it was raining inside the man cave but the smoldering fire was out.  Apparently the old wiring had blown apart and started the wood smoldering.

Thats where it started

We had managed to get the quads out of the danger zone along with the Sami and the Truck and camper.  If the place was going to go up in flames, it wasn't going to take those things with it!!  I even managed to rescue my bedding plants, which were sitting on the bar a the time of "the incident".

Leoville VFD

Anyway, many thanks was sent out to the Volunteer Fire Dept here in Leoville for a job well done.
And that folks, ended our first week back home in Leoville.  Excitement all around.

Sunday, May 3/2015 - Saturday, May 9/2015

It was a very lazy Sunday morning here at the farm.  I actually did not crawl out of bed until eleven o'clock!!  That is not to say that I slept that long.....NOOOO,  I was awake at 8 a.m. but I read my book then caught up on Facebook and got the blog caught up!!  Yay for me!!
It was soon time to greet the day and get into gear.  Lauren and Casey headed back to the city and then Jace, Kimmy, Scotty and Jill came out for the late afternoon and supper so we got to catch up on all their news.  Jill of course remains quite pregnant and can hardly wait till the baby is here.  A few more weeks ought to do it!!
Supper was delicious (no surprise there) and all too soon, the evening was over and the kids left.  Jace was headed to the farm so we probably would not be seeing him until the Father's Day quad rally.  It is seeding time at the farm and time is of the essence.
Monday morning heralded a busy week ahead.  It was time to get all the dentist, doctor, optometrist appointments out of the way.  Not to mention a trip to Blue Cross to fill in final papers for John's little "I tried to cut my thumb off in Arizona" adventure and of course the yearly tax returns were due. Gosh, I think I am tired just thinking about the upcoming week.
I did manage to get a visit in with  Jan and Erin and that was a good thing.  I also had to do lots of shopping as the price of some things in Leoville are out of this world and Walmart is not just "down the street"!!

Back to the real world

I stopped at the liquor store while in town one day and had to giggle when I saw this bill for 30 Keystone Light beer.  $51.51 is a far cry form the $17.99 we were paying in Arizona!!  I couldn't resist sending it to Kay!!

After a storm rolled through

The weather this week was chilly with lots of wind and some rain.  It froze at night so it is most definitely too early to get the garden plants in.  The seeds will be ok so am looking forward to getting into the garden when I get to Leoville.

Nice sunset

It was indeed a busy week but I managed to get most of what I needed for our trip home and managed to stock up on some essentials.    Hopefully next week, we will be sitting in Leoville with our feet up!!

Saturday, May 2/2015

It was rather cloudy out when we awoke and there was a bit of a nasty wind blowing.  It looked as if it might rain and that would not be good for the water table here at the farm.  It is already way too high and Bernie has been pumping the water out of the yard for several days now.  That last huge wet snowfall was the kicker and the sump pumps have been running pretty much steady.
Casey came for a visit and brought Lauren (his girlfriend) out for us to meet her.  Man, she is so slim!!  Nice girl though.  Roxy was happy to be able to run free here at the farm.  She was a goof and her and Hogan ran around like a couple of fools.
Bernie scooted off the pick Gloria up at the airport and then they had a dinner date with the neighbours for a birthday supper so John, Casey, Lauren and I sat around in the shop and had several adult beverages.
Casey and Lauren decided to stay at the farm for the night instead of driving back to Saskatoon and that was a very good thing.  No point in driving when one has had a few too many when you do not have to.
John got the bbq out and we dined on steak and baked potatoes.  Of course the meal was most delicious as usual but once that was done, I was headed to bed.   Time to sleep!!
All in all, another good day was had by all.

lauren and Casey

Lauren, Casey and Marie

Roxy all cozy

Party in the shop