Fall is Here!

We had -6C overnight and the cold weather effects are becoming very noticeable! 

The Tamarack (Larch) are turning their bright yellow. It won't be long before the needles fall off. The Larch is the only Deciduous tree that loses its needles.

The small ponds are starting to get a slight crust of ice on them. The rest of the bush is getting very drab looking.

More larch in various states of shedding compared to a couple of White Spruce.

Even this slightly flowing creek is ice covered.

The local farmers have most of their crops up. The "baggie" takes the place of the barns or storage bins. I am assuming that they blow it into store it and suck it out into trucks when they take it to market. Some farmers are talking of wheat yields of 125 bushels per acre!

More ice scenes.

I disturbed several mallards on this pond. They must have paddled all night to keep the area open. Four in a row.

Winter seems to be approaching fast, even though it is early October. Snow is forecast for Saturday. I hope it is not the 50 cm the Manitoba and Saskatchewan got yesterday

A Walk in the Woods

It is the May long weekend (Victoria day) and a great day to grab my son and two grand kids for a nine kilometer hike. At the start, they had lots of energy.

 Note the clean condition of the kids and dogs. Pretty shiny, right? The big one is 15 and the littler one is 7.

 After about 7 km, we came across the semi-empty beaver pond. This is the eldest unsticking the youngest and retrieving one rubber boot.

 The dogs didn't sink but I could see this coming. One 6 foot heavy kid didn't last long on the surface.

 It was the slippery, stinking, boot sucking mud. 

 Of course, where big brother goeth, so does little brother.

 It's deep and sticky, and a lot of fun.

 He did get through on his own.

  Daphne did pretty good, and generally stayed on top. 

 Here you can see the tide line on the legs.

Mike and I walked the 9 km and the boys made it on their bikes. Boys aren't boys unless a little mud is involved!

Every Thing Has a Season!

Our "pond" was put in for decoration and enjoyment. Alas, it has turned out to be more work than it was worth. The grand kids had a great time trying to catch goldfish with a chain of paperclips and a grasshopper.

The erection of a "No Fishing" sign made it seem to be more fun for them.

The aeration/circulation pump failed when the area dogs found that the pond was great for wading in and yes rolling in.

Without the aeration, the pond turned septic with a very nasty stench. The dogs also acquired this stench. The gold fish were brought inside for the winter and before the dogs squished them.

So, in order to start making things easier for my old age (many years from now), I decided to remove the pond. I can't remove the memories. They still remain.

For about 7 months a year, the pond looked like this or worse, depending on the amount of snow. All that remains now is a patch of clay that will have compost spread on it and grass seed.

Boots and Brooklyn will have to learn to drink from a dish (Boots). The kids are now onto bigger and better? things, like i pods and game boys.  Hopefully they will remember the pond.