About This April!

After a week of very nice weather, we had a rainfall warning issued. They did not mention that there was a possibility of snow with it. We woke up to sleet and snow 

 The trip to have coffee looked like this! Only in Alberta! Give it a few hours and it will likely be all gone. I hope!

Not much to do today except lay around and listen to Brooklyn snore, and Boots break wind! :-{

Hap Hap Happy Spring!

After several weeks of very nice weather in the plus 10C range, we woke up this morning on the first day of Spring to this!

 The weatherman has been playing some serious jokes on us.

 Yesterday, I saw the first four Canada Geese  flying over. I wouldn't blame them for turning around and going back south.

Bored!

Today, all is packed and waiting for the move. December 6th is only 12 days away, and all the hard packing is done. Nothing left to do, but take the two dogs for a snowshoe today. I had to kick Boots off the bed, but he came, and enjoyed himself.

This is probably too many pictures, but there is not that much time left on the Acreage. A guy has to make do with what time is left.

Coming home from church this morning, we had to stop on the road for a cow and calf moose. They were in the middle of the road eating road salt. The calf was down on his front knees. kind of cute! you know where my camera was, right? Yep, at home on the kitchen table. Grrrr.

The sun is pretty far south now.

 What am I doing here? The bed is much warmer!

 Snow is tasty!

 Can we get going? Why isn't brooklyn breaking trail? She is built like a snow plow!

 I think I buried a bone somewhere around here.

 What's this about me being a wide load? besides you buried the bone over there.

 Over here?

 Let me show you.

 I think it's here.

 Or maybe here.

 Never mind my slave will get me another!

 Oh, give it up! The bone is gone!

OK, OK, It is Pretty

The short term memory loss must have kicked in as I don't remember all the details of snow blowing 400 feet of driveway and 2500 square feet of deck. Nor do I remember the 2 1/2 hours of exercise, much.
(If you believe that, I heard of a pretty good bridge for sale cheap).

It warmed up from the -28C (-18F) to -10C (14F) today so I decided to find the snow shoes in a packed and stacked garage.

Besides, Brooklyn needed some exercise. Boots elected to stay inside on the bed.

 This is the backside of a deer going by the deck

 50+ cm (20 inches) of snow so far and it is only November 23!

 Do I have to break trail, Boss?

 Yep, we'll get some weight off you somehow!

 Never follow a tired dog!

 Can't a person have some privacy? Really!

 The young fawns of this year are already belly dragging. Not a good sign!

 Homeward bound, on the trail.

 The shoes are 50+ years old, and still going strong.

Yep, I guess it is pretty!

A Speed Bump On the Road of Life!

Due to one of the people in the domino chain of house purchasing, turning up late with a mortgage rate on our house, the whole chain of house moves ground to a halt for a while. Briefly, it looked like our house acquisition and sale would not happen. However, it turns out the issue was resolved, but with a delay of our purchase from November 16 to December 6. It appears that things will go ahead but not as originally scheduled. (sigh!)

In the meantime, Boots is starting to show his age. He is turning into an inside dog that enjoys the lazier things in life. The outside dog house seems to be more and more abandoned as the temperature drops.

Our oldest son showed up all the way from Houston Texas to help out with the packing and such. We managed to disassemble the wheelchair ramp and stack the lumber ready for the move. Elaine is still improving daily and managed to walk from the house to the car and down 10 steps for the first time today! Our youngest son also was involved. the help and visits by both sons was much appreciated by Elaine and myself. Alas, Andrew headed back to Texas today. I did capture a photo or two of him playing in the snow.

 Note the smile!

Hope you all, (all y'all for my American friends) enjoy a great Remembrance Day on Monday!

How's it Going, eh?

Elaine continues to get stronger day by day. It likely will be a while before she is at 100% though. The medications seem to have leveled out and the tremors are almost gone, except when hungry or tired.

I managed to get all the stuff out of the outbuildings and boxed, taped or otherwise prepared for the big move. The timing is great and I just got it done before the white stuff really fell. I am slowly getting over not seeing horses in the pasture, and still feel the need of a good horse hug now and again.

 Notice the absence of tracks out back. There is no need to go walk about any more.

We are coming down to the wire as far as the move goes. All property conditions should be removed by November 8. The bank bridge loan is in place and the possession date is November 22. If all goes well, we have to be off the Acreage by November 27 (noon).

A bunch of ladies from the church are going to descend and pack up the kitchen on November 16. A couple have been hired to clean this place prior to departure, and the same ladies are going to go over the new place prior to us moving. Guys from the church are going to show up with trucks, trailers and manpower to get all the stuff moved. We are planning to park Elaine in the middle of the floor and direct traffic. In other words, that part is going well!

I had a surprise the other day, when the surgeon's office  (University Hospital) phoned and said that my back surgery was scheduled for November 26! I explained the situation..Elaine in hospital for 8 weeks, in the midst of a move and that I could not be laid up for 2 to 6 months at this time! After waiting 5 years for the surgery, I figured, what the heck, let's move it out to March. They agreed, thankfully!

I am not posting as often due to the business of the moment, such as packing, getting Elaine to doctor's appointments, physio, etc, but I read what I can, when I can.

Have a great week, and thanks from both of us for the prayers! They are appreciated!

Why I Wanted to Go back to Bed!

I guess it could have been worse!

 SNOW is a four letter word!

Lest I Forget!

Ha! The last of the snow! By Saturday, it will be gone. 

 There is a little left beyond the fence line, but it doesn't count as that's not our property! Splitting hairs maybe, but I'm allowed.

 The horses are really enjoying the +16C temperatures! They are so relaxed I have to check for a pulse now and again.  You may notice a few piles of leaves over the next while. I am planning to follow the dry line and do a little bit per day. There is only an acre to rake. Not bad!

This little fellow was a birthday present. He'll be hanging around most of the summer.

Spring is Coming!

 The snow is still plenty deep where the sun don't shine much

 However, in select spots there are a few glimmers of hope. Up against the hay shelter there is GREEN GRASS!

The level in the holding area has dropped about 2 feet in the last three days and water ( plus other things) are flowing off the field.

It seems that we have been waiting forever for this to start!

A few people have reported geese flying on the Athabasca River, but I haven't seen any yet.

More

After two more dumps like This ,I have finally gotten things dug out! It may take a while before the training paddock is available!

Yep, it may take a while!

The parking spot is cleared out, and my truck is back at home. The lower ball joint on the front passenger side broke leaving the tire sitting at 90 degrees to what it should have been. Fortunately, we were not on the highway when that happened or it could have been real exciting!

Looking at the picture, I see I forgot to shovel out the bed. Tomorrow is another day, with no snow forecast!

March 15 Dusting of Snow

 This is the well used trail down to the lower pasture. Time to get out the snowshoes again. Close to 30 cm (12 inches) of snow fell the last two days.

 The driveway was a mess this morning. A trip to town required 4 wheel drive most of the way in and back. No sign of any plows yet in our area. I took that amount off the driveway yesterday.

 My son's truck may be here for a while longer. It is 2 wheel drive.

 I still need to shovel out the trails to the horse area.

 If Brooklyn gets any wider in the back end, I may have to widen the path. Can't have side rub!

She is watching the neighbours closely, just in case there is something interesting going on.

How was your day?

Just When We Were Getting Ahead!

We got another dump of snow! About 20 cm (8 inches) of heavy wet snow!

 It likely will be a while before i get to ride down the trail, or anywhere else for that matter.

 Brooklyn looked as if to ask "So where is a gal supposed to do her business?" I try to encourage her to leave the trails.

 Hopefully we will get a slow and steady thaw....soon! we are up high enough on the mountain that flooding is not an issue.

 Yep, there is a lot of snow. The rose bushes are burried.

 The driveway took a lot of work to get it passable. Eight trips up and down with the snow blower and then scraping with the quad and blade.

 Our training corral is slightly unusable

Come on spring! I am more than ready!