Summer

New summer design for Summerlove Shelties

Flooding & A Prairie Road Trip

Wildfires, droughts and floods were once seen as freak conditions. But the environmental disasters now striking the province are shocking signs of “global weirding.”

Welcome to the climate roller coaster or what is being coined the “new normal” of weather. Our province is caught between fire and water these days. In the north we have forest fires due to drought, and the south seems to be inundated with water overkill. We in the center of the province are managing reasonably well, although the river is very high and very fast due to the upstream overflow. A typical summer flow rate of the river as it passes through the city is 150 cubic meters per second. I read in the local paper that this week it was estimated to be 1,300 cubic meters per second expecting to rise to 2000 cubic meters in some areas. It has created a warning to all residence to be extra diligent when being close to the river. River lookouts are closed to the public and ferries have stopped their service. According to city officials the water treatment plant is experiencing major problems with their filters and mandatory water restrictions have been put into place for the city. Further south, Regina and Moose Jaws water treatment plant has been shut down completely. All due to the high sand loads from the river water resulting in reduced output and major equipment failure.

The Saskatchewan river as seen at the Berry Barn in Saskatoon. 

Last week I ventured on a road trip to Manitoba to visit my good friend Gail. I traveled on highway 16 as far as Shoal Lake and then headed south. Numerous roads had been damaged and closed as a result of flooding caused by spring run-offs and detours where necessary. Farmers and landowners will continue to be threatened by flooding do to the water release at Gardiner Dam and rising river levels. What crop had been planted might all be lost. I can foresee a rise in the price of wheat and other foods.

Ducks sit atop a round hay bail in a flooded farmers field.

I traveled through a migration corridor were over 390 species of birds have been recorded and 287 known to nest. Over 70% of North American waterfowl originate our Canadian Prairies. A late spring has not stopped ducks and geese from arriving in this region, where excellent breeding conditions are predicted. Habitat conditions remain favorable primarily because of the excellent wetland conditions due to the open waters in the marshes.

A nesting basket for Mallard ducks

On my way home I stopped at Foam Lake Heritage center managed by Ducks Unlimited Canada for a nature watch and walk. The town of Foam Lake has developed three self-guided areas around the marsh that are great for spotting wildlife. There are boardwalks and viewing mounds that make it a satisfying experience. The boardwalk takes you through a marsh bog and offers resting spots and a chance to enjoy the diversity of nature. A great trail for bird watchers and enthusiasts of both flora and fauna with some spectacular views of the lake along the way.

Unfortunately the trail was kind of wet and due to the endless bombarding of barn swallows my walk had to be cut short. Here is a picture of Lynda Haverstock receiving a mallard-nesting basket by Foam Lake’s mayor, as seen at the tourist information center.

For a Timmy’s coffee and a gas fill I stopped at Russell and then headed north for a side trip. I stopped at Inglis for its interesting history of the area and with its restored Five-Grain Elevators, which is a national historic site. Some of these old structures vanish rather suddenly, sort of here to day and gone tomorrow and replaced with new buildings build of cement and steel. Once there were many of these old landmarks in the prairies, it’s sad to see the beauty of these old prairie elevators gone forever.

The restored elevators in Inglis are one of the last examples known left standing and are an enduring symbol of the prairies agriculture and a way of life once common, but now increasingly difficult to find anymore.

On my return home the dogs were happy to see me, as I am sure my faithful dog sitters had temporarily changed their usual routine.

____________

Spring Clean Ups

It’s that time again – the time when confusion reigns and it doesn’t look as if everything will possibly get sorted out in time for the real garden season.

I welcome spring with mixed feelings. I am pleased to see the end of the snow and the cold, but the first few weeks of the season are always related to a lot of work. So much work in fact that it doesn’t seem possible to even contemplate it all. As soon as the snow has melted and it is dry enough in the garden you just want to get out and get your hands dirty. There are a few jobs that need attending and I am trying to convince myself that I actually enjoy them. I imagine how nice the garden will look.

As I sit on the patio with grand visions of my yard, these thoughts of conquering and beautifying my yard quickly begin to fade as I think of the days I need to accomplish the task. Perhaps I could split the garden up into manageable sections and did a task each day, it wouldn’t be so bad. The lawn needs attending first as leaves and branches fallen during the winter storms need to be removed. Spring also reveals a horrific scene of unwanted weeds from last year that need sending to the trash Trimming back plants and shrubs to prepare them for the new season would follow. The garden however, who is easily ignored until seemingly over night the perennials are peeking through the soil and begin to push their green selves into the air for another year. Sights of tulips and daffodils pushing up like periscopes from the muddy depths are greeting me with fresh vibrant new growth peeking up through the ruins of last year.

Then of course there are the dogs who always want to lend a hand with digging in the soil and pulling out the plants They are quite vocal too and have a lot to say, so much in fact, that I better leave them in the house should I get enough energy to actually making my fantasy of a beautiful garden reality.

So the timing has not been quite right yet, my fantasy that I would putter in my garden has not materialized yet. How easy it could be to keep up with it all! Who am I kidding! It won’t happen. I’ll put it off until I am having people over for coffee, then I’ll fly into a frenzy and get busy attempting to give the impression that my garden is always easy to look after. Or maybe I should just call the gardener to do the task for me, but then again I could not brag that my garden is my labor of my love. I probably wouldn’t have calluses and an aching back and a deep feeling of satisfaction.

I carry on this procrastination as long as possible and finally cave mostly because I cannot stand the sight of it any longer.

ASSA 2011

This years ASSA National was in Grey Summit west of St Louis Missouri.

 

The beautiful banner of the 2011 ASSA National

We arrived Tuesday and the plan was to pick up our rental car at the airport, which is a 30 minutes drive from our hotel, only to find out that all rental cars were leased out. We were quite disappointed and agreed to take a cab that charged us an astronomical price.

Our hotel was beautiful. Build in the early 1800 with its 36 inches thick limestone walls offering genuine midwestern hospitality, made for a comfortable stay. We even had a choice of firm or soft pillows, a first for me and a nice touch.

The event was at the new Purina Farms Event Center, a perfect location with a new state of the art indoor facility. Bright and large with cushioned flooring for the big ring and lots of grooming space. The surrounding areas of the center had plenty of grassland with picturess scenery.

We did our shopping right away, as the evening was set-aside for the visiting hour. Many beautiful dogs caught my eyes, especially the young puppies that placed so well in their classes and the top quality dogs I had admired from afar.

Here is a noteworthy, beautiful display.

____________

Wednesday was the judging of the boys. For the evening we were lucky to scalp tickets for the BBQ. Our tablemates were from New York State, Manitoba and Missouri. An impromptu educational question and answer hour led by Rick Thompson followed. Many knowledgeable “Old Timers” participated in giving answers. Overall an enjoyable evening.

The remaining week was spent watching our beautiful shelties being judged, socializing, making new friends and visiting with old acquaintances. It was a treat to be on a little holiday.

I would have loved to see padded chairs or bleachers all around the ring. Negotiating getting up and down on them and sitting for hours was not easy to take. Many spectators had bought crate pads to sit on which alleviated the uncomfortable seating arrangement.

People working the show worked so very hard and all appreciated it. At the restaurant I had some great meals and of course the cake celebrating the 100-year birthday…was delicious.

It was good to sit at ringside to relax, no stress, following the dogs in the catalogue enjoying the beautiful shelties of the day and to pick my winners. The best part of the show was to see so many friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. It was nice to catch up.

Congratulation to all the winners!

____________

It would be remiss of me not to write about my Friday Adventure to the Harrah’s Casino. Initially we had planned to take a riverboat cruise down the Mississippi river that evening, but as faith would have it, it wasn’t meant to be. Instead we joined a group who was headed to the casino.

I am not a gambler and my $20.00 had to last the whole evening. Lady Luck was on my side and I was on a roll when all of a sudden my one arm bandit froze and I could no longer place a bet I could only see a black screen. – No time to think and worry in what to do next. – No time to cash out, as I couldn’t anyway. - No time to place my chair in a tipped position indicating that this place was reserved. – At the same time I saw security personnel rushing into a certain direction when all of a sudden sirens screeched in a loud demanding call making you pay attention. Loudspeakers ordered us to proceed into a secure area of the casino. By this time word had got around that a tornado had touched down. Quickly and orderly we were evacuated into an interior, windowless area of the casino. An elderly man next to me was sitting under a table and by this time my brain was functioning again and I realized the magnitude a tornado could have. I was frightened worrying about my safety. I breathed a sigh of relief as I welcomed the call of the loudspeaker ten minutes later announcing the “ALL CLEAR”.

I returned to my one arm bandit were I had left a substantial amount of money earlier only to find a woman in my seat playing with my money. I cautioned her that she was playing with my money and that I wanted it back. Well… I got a nasty look and an even nastier reply. I am not the arguing type and I wasn’t about to argue with the woman who was twice my size. I motioned a supervisor explaining my mishap. He was more than helpful re-acquiring my lost money and then some that by the way was later spend in the casino anyway.

I want to congratulate the casino staff on their efficiency in handling this situation. It could have been a different outcome but all was well.

Our drive back to the hotel took a little longer than usual as many highways were closed because of the devastation the tornado had caused. Our GPS had to re-calculate numerous times!!!!

____________

This National will be remembered for the devastating storm that spawned tornadoes across the region as St Louis and area took a big hit from a tornado that destroyed many homes and damaged many others. The best news was that there was no loss of life as a result of the heavy storms that moved through the area. As we were driving to the airport on Sunday we could see the devastation. Unbelievable to see first hand the power of a tornado as anything in its way was flattened or destroyed. Lambert Airport took a big hit as well and the airport was closed indefinitely as the status of the airport was unknown. The C concourse, which was heavily damaged, remained closed, and people were making other travel arrangements, but by Sunday the airport had returned to normal capacity levels. Airlines flew nearly 70% of scheduled flights and I was happy that we were one of the lucky once leaving.

There is no place like home!

Spring

New Spring Design for Summerlove Shelties

The Robins are back

Spring is finally here. The snow is melting and every day we see changes outside and a new bit of growth in the yard. All this is a comfort and a sorely needed bit of cheer for those who have made it through the tough and seemingly endless winter.

With the warmer weather the birds are being busy in the garden rummaging through the leftover seeds on the ground and generally feeling wonderful that the snow is gone.

When checking the back yard this morning for more appearances of the snowmelt that had left copious amounts of water in the lower areas of the yard, I saw a flock of American Robins. It is always a welcome sign and truly a sign of spring. The industrious and authoritarian birds were checking out the sights for their summer stay. They tried a dip in the pond, but it must have been to cold as it sits in the shade and traces of ice are still present. It is a real treat to watch their erect stand, beak tilted upwards, to survey their environs. They are a popular sight here. I love their red chests, cheery songs and early appearance at the end of winter. Soon the ground will be warm enough, food will be plentiful and we will see them tugging earthworms out of the ground to feed to their young.

I am looking forward to hear their early morning and evening calls from their repertoire of songs.

Last week’s happenings

Braving the cold elements of last week I took my friend to a little side trip to the Western Development Museum’s 1910 Boom Town. It’s exhibiting a full- scale replica of a typical settlement of that era. Along the main street you can go into buildings like the general store, the blacksmith’s shop and the post office; even a one-room school. All are outfitted with antique pieces, which of course would have been the objects of everyday life at the time.

We were also interested in the exhibition of the “Hunter of the Prairie Sea”. It is a replica of a Tylosaurus fossil found in Saskatchewan. Nicknamed Omaciw, (which means hunter in Cree) and is more than 9.75 meters (32 feet) long making it one of the largest of the marine reptiles. It was discovered along the south shore of lake Diefenbaker in 1994. It is known as a very ferocious hunter of ancient seas, ready to kill just about any smaller creature that crossed its path. You just have to look at its jaws, lined on each side with two rows of pointy, cone shaped teeth. Just real vicious looking not one species I like to meet in the dark. Apparently stomach contents indicated a diet on fish, seabirds and even shark. It’s hard to believe that our flat prairie landscape was once under water.

 In addition to the Tylosaurus the exhibition introduces one to the marine environment that existed in Saskatchewan million years ago.

The massive exhibit of the Tylosaurus can take your breath away and I was glad to get out of the rooms for a more pleasant experience…lunch of course.

____________

Don’t you just love to go to the theater?

We treated ourselves to the play “Rabbit Hole” by David Lindsay-Abaire. The play is about how people grief and how they grief in very different ways and what can happen when those differences are at odds with each other and within a family. Grief obviously did not bring the family closer together. Sorrow isolated them. Anything that anyone said was almost guaranteed to be the wrong thing. It is a sad play and tears may easily flow as a family grieves the loss of their four-year-old son who was killed accidentally by a young driver while following his dog onto the street.

It was an evening of good performance at our new Persephone Theater.

____________

Rummoli anyone?

What is that? It is one of our all time favorite games. Last Friday my ladies church group played this entertaining game. We played for big money…pennies that is…

Rummoli is a great game and easy to play. Perfect for rainy days. We often get together, sometimes even for a hearty Pot Luck, which of course is every ones favorite.

As a child I used to play it with my family at my grandmothers place. It was a get-together I cherished. Always placing a candle nearby so we could continue playing just in case of power outages.

We like to add up our final penny count and see how much we are in debt or how much we made. Lots of fun to see that you made as many pennies as the player beside you lost.

Always a nice evening when spend with friends.

____________