Friday, September 2/2011

Well God decided that I did not have to sleep last night so needless to say, I am a little tired this morning.  I wandered the bus and sat in the chair, looked at facebook and read from the kindle and finally about 4:30 a.m. fell asleep!!  God, I hate nights like that.
I am now sitting here (8:30 a.m.) bright eyed and ready to greet the day.  It is chilly in the bus this morning so I have the electric heater going.  I put the coffee on (forgetting about the heater) and blow the breaker!!  Oh, so this is how the day is going to go!!!
With the breaker back on and the coffee finally made, I get to sit for a  minute and have some quiet time.  The blue jay is once again trying to get into the little bird feeder and has once again settled for the seeds on the ground.  It is funny how this little creature always has to try the feeder first before finally admitting defeat and eventually eating off the ground!!
The guys finally awoke and I cooked breakfast.  They will be going out to the trails today.  Dale needs to "break in" his quad as he has very few hours on that fancy new machine.

Dale's new Can Am MR

I will be staying here getting ready for the kids.  I have left most of the things that need to be done to the last minute (as usual) so today is the day to get everything done.  Then I can relax and enjoy the weekend.
The guys came off the trail and the kids arrived about an hour later.  It is good to see them again.  Dave and Shirley came over soon after the kids arrived and we all sat around the campfire chatting.
I had cooked potato salad earlier and everyone was getting hungry so I threw the pork chops on the BBQ and we all ate - Dave and Shirley included.  It tasted great!!
Shirley has to work in the morning so it wasn't too long after we ate that she and Dave were headed home for the night and I soon followed.  I am tired!!

Thursday, September 1/2011

WOW - it is the first of September already and it already is a bit chilly in the mornings!!  Feels like Fall - or is that just my imagination.
When Gary and I were on the water yesterday, I noticed some of the trees already starting to change color.
I have spent much of the morning texting Casey.  He has finally got a job on one of the oil rigs in Northern Alberta.  He spent the last two days getting all his clothes bought for the job then left for Calgary at midnight last night.  He made it to Calgary and found the airport and the hangar where he is to leave from.  His bags are now checked in and he is waiting for the flight.  My, how our children grow!! This child had trouble finding his way around the streets of Saskatoon and here he is sitting in the airport in Calgary (only got lost once he says) waiting for a flight to take him to some place called Red Earth.  Now my question is - is that a place or is it the name of the rig?
I went into work for 1 o'clock and once back home found out that Casey had made it to the rig safe and sound.  Not much of a message, but enough for me to hold on to.
Dale arrived tonight from Regina.  I didn't even know he was supposed to show up tonight but Oh Well, he is here.  It is a good thing John actually cleaned up the trailer because he would be sleeping in amongst tools, and general disarray.
It is chilly tonight and I soon headed to the heat and safety of my bed.  Jace and Kim come tomorrow and the weekend of fishing and fun will begin.

Wednesday, August 31/2011

The sun is shining this morning and it looks to be an awesome day.  Shirley and I are going into Spiritwood later to do some shopping then Gary and I are supposed to be going fishing this afternoon at Miko Lake.  Who knows, maybe we will have fish tonight for supper!!
Shirley and I did indeed head into Spiritwood for all the sales at the grocery store.  Then before getting home, made a quick detour to the butcher shop outside of Leoville and found it Closed.  Now what the heck is with that!!  It is a good thing I bought  steak in Spiritwood!!
Once back from shopping, Gary was ready to go fishing so I quickly put things away and we headed over to Miko.
Back at home again where I had a good day on the water and three fish in the bucket.  We will have fish and chips for supper and they will taste awesome ...... and they did!!
I got a call from one of the girls at the home wanting me to work the last half of her shift tomorrow and since I am not really doing anything in particular, I might just as well.  I might just a swell get a seven hour paycheque as opposed to no paycheque at all!!

Tuesday, August 30/2011

It rained during the night and I left the clothes out on the line!!  Totally unintentional but none the less,  God chose to re-wash them!!  Hopefully the dull grey clouds will leave and we will get some sunshine or, I may be taking a trip to the laundromat!!

It is a good thing that I didn't get to the window cleaning yet as that rain just may have made a horrible mess of them.  Of course the same can not be said of the blinds.  That, I am afraid is pure laziness.
The sun did come out and the outside (and inside) of the windows are now clean and sparkling.  While I was doing the outside, someone from the town office came by to measure the lots so that John and I know where to build the fence.  That is a good thing as we also found out that  there is no sewer or water hook-up  on the other lot so now it will have to be trenched from this side of the property which in itself is not really too much of an issue according to Denny (the town guy).
With the lines now clearly marked, we discovered that the row of beautiful evergreens at the edge of our property (which we were told belonged to us when we bought) are actually on Gary's property.  It really makes no difference to us unless Gary decides to cut them off which he says he will never do as he loves them too.  We will be putting a shorter four foot fence along this tree line to keep the dog in the yard.  It will be made out of wire so that we can still enjoy the splendor of the trees.
The sun finally got the clothes dried and with that, I folded and put them away and took down my fancy clothes line so that John could get the quad out and dump the sewer tank.  With company coming this weekend, it was a necessity.  When Denny was here earlier, he told me that the town dump station had been fixed so that there will never be the issue of backup again.  It is now safe to dump without the risk of having a horrible mess everywhere!!  Once that nasty little job was done, it was time for "happy hour".
Gary came over for a while and he has now ripped his entire quad apart and believes that it will be a thousand dollar fix as opposed to a three thousand dollar fix.  Apparently the engine did indeed heat and that was the cause of the catastrophic failure.  It affected the"top" of the engine and not the bottom so that is the difference in price.

Monday, August 29/2011

I had a lousy sleep last night.  My knees were aching so bad I had to get up and rub them with some sort of "snake" oil in the hopes that they would stop aching and I could get back to sleep.  I popped more tylenol (I am sure my liver is really mad at me, not to mention my kidneys!!) but eventually did get a bit of sleep.  Perhaps riding my own quad is not such a good idea anymore.  I will have to think on this some more.  I may have to ride Shirley's quad again just to see if I get the same results although, I am not looking forward to another sleepless night if that is the outcome!!
This morning, I am still a bit sore (used some more "snake" oil) but the constant ache is gone so that is a good thing.
I washed a few loads of clothes and pinned them out on the line for the sun to do its thing.   I thought about doing the grass and I actually thought about cleaning the windows - Yea, that's right - I haven't done that yet either!!
Thankfully, Shirley dropped over for a visit and saved me from doing anything!!  Life is tough.

Sunday, August 28/2011

I am up early and notice that it must have rained during the night although I did not hear and thing!!  Hmmm!!  I noticed that Shirley was on-line so we chatted over a cup of coffee and that was rather fun.  Neither Dave nor John were up yet so we had some "girl" time!!
I must wash the outside of the windows today.  They are filthy and it is past time for them to be done.  I should also figure out how the blinds come off the windows so that they too can be washed.  I think I will start on the small bathroom blind just in case I break something.  I'd rather it be a small blind and not one of the big ones in the front of the bus.  Wish me luck!!

Timberland Church and Graveyard

Dave and Shirley

John

Mushroom Tree

Trails we are on

Break

Wolf Tracks

He's a big one!

Beverage at the snowmobile shelter

Heart Lake

John and Shirley

I procrastinated long enough with cleaning the windows so they never did get done.  Instead, we loaded the quad and hooked up with Dave and Shirley to go for a ride.  Now, what would you rather do - clean windows and blinds or go quadding.
We headed down into "the block" and had a riot.  We saw some of the biggest wolf tracks I had ever seen and that was rather fascinating and, we once again introduced Dave to more trails he had yet to travel,  eventually ending up at the south end of Otter Lake.  It is an awesome and remote site for someone who wishes to fish and camp and be totally undisturbed.  While Shirley and I were down at the lake's edge, a fish jumped - almost like he was mocking us for not having our fishing rods with us!!  Damn Fish!!
We spent the day in the forest eventually swapping quads so the Dave and Shirley were on ours and John and I each took one of theirs.  It was a riot and I enjoyed riding Shirley quad only once managing to get stuck in a deep mud puddle!!  Well, not actually stuck, as I was able to back my way out of it but not before I got my feet wet!!  It felt good to be riding my own quad and I must say that my tailbone appreciated the change as well!!  I was able to stand through some of the rough spots and that was great.
We finally got out of the block and at the cattle gate.  We had made good time but it was getting later in the day and we still wanted to see if we could make it through another trail to eventually hook up to the North Grid and head back into town that way.
Because we were going to be doing some road riding, I decided to put on my raincoat to cut some of the wind that we would be experiencing.  I went to get it out of the storage box only to discover that it was not there!!  Now where the hell did it go?  I could not remember taking it out but obviously I had.  Dave "kind of" remembered seeing me take it out but not sure where.  Either way, we had to go back and find it as I had put the cell phone in the pocket.  Oh Brother - I can't believe I lost my jacket!!
It  was 8:00 p.m. when we were headed back into the block on our search mission.  Thankfully, it was not too terribly far back  - just after the gate at Slide Out (which actually if far enough back when one is back tracking).  What I think happened is that I forgot to latch the box closed and the jacket fell out, being dragged for a ways as it was totally covered in mud.  Dave and Shirley were riding behind John and I so no one noticed they were dragging my coat, which eventually fell off the quad completely.
Since we were by the Heart Lake turnoff, we scooted down that trail for a beer and enjoy the beauty of this little lake.  The last beer in the block for tonight.
Since we had to make the unexpected return trip tonight, we put the other trail on hold and just headed home.  I guess we will leave that trail for another day.
By the time we made it back to the bus, it was 10:00 o'clock and the chicken I had put into the slow cooker before we had left was certainly cooked.   Hogan was glad to see us and I was happy to be home.  I was tired.
With a few potatoes quickly thrown into a pot and cooked a can of vegetables opened, we ate supper and relaxed for a bit before I headed into the shower to wash the dust and grime off  before collapsing into the bed.  My knees were aching and I feared that I would pay a price for riding Shirley's quad for as long as I did.   Good Night!!

Saturday, August 27/2011

Well I looked at the left over beet juice this morning and said "ah,what the hell".  I  might just as well get another pot of beets going and use the left over juice.  So, out to the garden I go and come back in with enough beets for the final and I mean final batch of pickled beets.
It looks like it is going to be another nice day today and I really should cut the grass.  Of course with that new property, we now have even more grass to cut.  Great!!  Jace and Kim are coming up next weekend but I do not think I can look at messy long grass for another week!!
The last of the beets are done.  The left over juice is all used up and I am now officially done with beets.
I started cleaning the trailer a bit today although I did take time to watch the funeral service for Jack Layton (leader of the opposition party here in Canada)  who passed away earlier this week from cancer.
The funeral was incredible.  It was a State Funeral which in itself is unheard of for the leader of the opposition but I guess this tells us just what an incredible man he was and how the country felt about him that they would bestow this kind of an honor on him.  The sermon itself was touching and powerful and I am so glad that I took the time to watch it.
Gary has been fixing his quad now for a few days and has now got things all done.  He has taken it around town a few times and now thinks that it is ready for the trails.  He has decided to take a salt block out to the forest where he too is hoping to lure the deer in during hunting season.  John asked him which way he was headed "just in case".  That  proved to be a very good question because not too long after he left, we go a call from him  asking us to come and get him as his quad  had broken down.  Now that can't be good.
John headed down the road and found him sitting on his running board  with what I am sure was a rather defeated, dejected look on his face.  No one should have this kind of bad luck.  John doubled Gary home who then got his truck and trailer ready and headed back to the quad where he loaded it and brought it home.
Dave and Shirley, who had left for a birthday party for one of their grandchildren,  returned - much to our surprise.  They sure weren't gone long and we soon found out why.  Apparently the alternator went in their truck so they never even made it to the party.  They returned with very little juice left in the battery.  They got back in time to help us push Gary's quad off the trailer and into the garage.
While the guys were trying to diagnose the issues with Gary's quad while sitting here in the yard having a beer, Gary got a phone call from his ex-wife saying that their daughter had been involved in a car accident and was on her way to the hospital.   It took an hour before Gary found out that his daughter was going to be okay.   This is a scary reality we, as parent have to be prepared for and deal with.  With our children living their own lives and not in the same area as we are, this is always a possibility.   We can do nothing more than put good vibes out into the universe and hope for the best.
Dave decided he wanted to go for a trail ride to see if he can see any deer.  Apparently, Shirley and him saw a few young bucks back in the bush a few days ago and he wanted to check them out again.  With the four of us sitting in their Ford Explorer, we headed onto the trails.  We did see some deer although I don't think they were the ones Dave was looking for.  It was good to be out in the trails again and we did take a bit of a detour which ended up in a big mud hole that none of us were anxious to take on as we did not have a winch on the truck,  Instead, we turned around vowing to return to this trail on the quads.
Back at home, it was time for a campfire while John cooked supper.  It was awesome as usual and a good way to finish the day.