Getting Out Again

Now that the 3 week Monsoon has ended, I was able to get out and about. Daphnie and I did an 8 km walk on the Town's paved walking trails. The bush otherwise was too soggy.

I came across this very cooperative Mule Deer. I told Daphne "No" and she just sat with me and watched.

 You can see why they are called Mule Deer. The ears are very expressive!

 She was curious and walked up to about 20 feet away.

 Then off for a pronk. Note all 4 feet are off the ground. They hit with all four feet and bound.

 Back for another peer at us.

 What are you guys up to? How come that dog isn't chasing me?

 The natural grass is getting up close to 4 feet high.

 Yep, if it weren't for my ears, I bet you would walk right past!

Work Load..

Spring time always seems to be loaded up with work! Now and again, a fellow has to stop and observe nature. This crane fly was doing much the same thing...nothing.

The automatic lawn mowers were back working on the driveway. A few more days, and it will be nicely trimmed up, and partially fertilized.

The green house is starting to fill up. Lots of green and red peppers growing well. they will stay in the green house all summer.

We also have these non-edible things Taking up space growing, almost ready to go inro baskets outside.

One tomato plant is producing like crazy. the other three are coming along nicely. There are no pictures of ripe tomatoes. Someone keeps nibbling them as they ripen.

The back splash project in the kitchen is almost done. there is just a little clean up to do. This has been a 10 year request, however, I feel that one should not jump into a project without thoroughly analyzing it.

The backsplash in the bathroom is also complete! Now I can start to relax!

Oops, it has been raining almost every day for 2 weeks, so I guess I can't relax until the garden is fully planted.

A Hint of Spring

This is what I had prepared to post prior to the 25 cm dump of snow we got. (See previous post)

A trip to the Athabasca River today showed that , yes, ducks have returned, why I don't know!

 The river was flowing pretty good for this early, but no where near flood stage. That normally happens in August when the mountain glaciers really start melting.

 Lots of little ducks floating around.

 Houston, we have lift off!

 There was a hint that a heron had also returned.

 There were lots of geese on the sandbar out front, but they were in the brush squawking and choosing mates. The ones that were flying were going down the back channel, out of camera range.

Two Gold Eyes  were indifferent to my presence, up to a point. This goes to show that maybe we will get spring ( we may call it summer) this year.

The dogs are shedding, the horses are shedding and some of the birds are back!
Bring it on!

Here is what we have scheduled for this weekend!

Alerts in effect for Whitecourt, AB

Snowfall Warning

Issued at 10:33 AM MDT Friday 12 April 2013

SUMMARY

Heavy snow beginning tonight.

DETAILS

A low pressure system will develop over Alberta tonight bringing with it a band of heavy snow. Current guidance suggests the band will set up from the Grande Cache region through the Capital region and into areas east of Red Deer. Total snowfall amounts up to 20 cm are possible by Sunday.

They were wrong! We got 25 cm (10 inches) of very wet snow!

High Humidity and Low Temperature

The combination yields a good crop of hoar frost!

On the cow parsley.

On the wire fence

On the fence post

Multi-variety

On the bushes

On the chicken wire

Over all it was a very damp and gloomy day.

If it gets above freezing tomorrow like it's supposed to, the bush and areas under the trees will be like being in a rain storm. In the mean time, it is sure pretty!

A Nice Fall Day

It was a really nice day, with the ground drying up from the previous snow. It was too windy to ride a horse, but I did get a good ride yesterday. The fall colours are great, except most of the leaves are now off the trees. It was a good day to clean up the dry gulley to the left of the first picture and below.

 I am trying to encourage grass to grow in the area, but am fighting the dogwood shrubs and a whole bunch of willow suckers that just sort of refuse to die off. In the spring, if they come up again, it's time to hit them with a herbicide, much as I hate to do it. I am also clearing out the old dead-falls that I didn't clean up a couple of years ago. I don't like the balsam poplar trees much, as they don't dry out and are very heavy. They call them Bam  trees in this area, but I think it should be spelled with a "D".

There are still a few areas to finish cleaning up before the major snow fall hits on Saturday. The weather gurus have been wrong before, and I hope they are wrong again! I need some more horse time in before it gets slippery.

Wordless Wednesday

Well, maybe one  Pfspphth!

7:00 am

7:30 am

10:30 am

11:00 am

Hibernation Time!

So far this fall we have gotten off lightly. There have only been 2 minor frosts, until today, that is.It was a little different looking out this morning. Brooklyn was leaving tracks on the deck. You might say she is still a tenderfoot,. She wanted back in pretty quick.

 The frost hit our Mayberry tree hard. It looked "normal" yesterday.

 The raspberry canes also got hit. Somewhere under that mass of weeds are 100 onions. They are all good sized, red and white, and are still OK. Guess what I'm doing this afternoon?

 The lower field is pretty white. Boots is not bothered at all by the cold, although he did ask to come in last night for about an hour.

 Scarlet our loaner, on a diet, horse seems to be OK. I did not go across the road to check on our 3, but with the coats they have grown so far, they probably did not even notice it was cold this morning.

 How cold? -5C (21F) enough to put a crust on the horse trough. I guess it's time to start hooking up the tank heater and putting the insulation back on the tank. The ice is only about 1/4 inch thick and Scarlet will have no trouble breaking through that.

 The row and a half of potatoes are all dried and tucked away in the pantry. The yield was good this year with 10 pounds of seed potatoes yielding about 140 pounds of spuds.

The Start of Fall

Looking around the Acreage today, the signs that it is now officially fall are every where. The leaves are all turning. A lot have fallen already

 The flower beds are looking pretty barren and bleak. The grass, however, will not need to be cut again! Yeah!

 Our catnip plant flowered for the first time since we got it. Pretty, but what do you use catnip for, anyway? We have no cats.

 If you look hard, there is the odd Icelandic poppy still blooming, but not many. They are a cold hardy plant!

 So, summer is gone! All that is left to say is "so long, Summer"

The End!

Around Town

These are a few of the pictures taken today "Around the Town". Just 4 walking minutes from downtown Whitecourt is this little gem. The pond was made when the Millar Western sawmill was expanded and the property given to the town for a water park after the gravel was removed.

 Over the last few years a fountain was added. The town also stocks the pond with 1500 rainbow trout each year. The only stipulation is fishing must be done by a person under 12 accompanied by a parent or grandparent.

 On a hot summer day (like today @30C or 86F) a lot of people use it!

 There is a big pavilion to get out of the sun, and lots of shade trees.You can just see the gantry crane in the mill yard. You would never know otherwise that industry is so close.

I couldn't resist adding a shot of the youngest grand child " shooting the rapids"

 Kids on their rafts get caught in the back eddies, get run over,and run over others on their rafts.

 There is a lot of water going down each of the two slides.

 The end pool is where everybody meets, sometimes literally!

The geese are quite at home and this pair has hatched seven goslings, almost ready for flight.

 Along the walking trail, the town erected this pole for an osprey nest. They keep coming back year after year.

Besides all this there are several walking trails, an elaborate splash pool for the kiddies, and not so small kiddies. All in all, a very good use of our taxpayer monies. And, it's all free!

Hope everybody is staying cool!