Fall is here

The summer has flown by so quickly I cannot believe it is now the end of September.  We have had a wonderful summer visiting with friends, family and looking after the park. Woody kept very busy, doing a couple of renos for friends along with park duties. Over the summer and fall I have captured some photos of wild flowers that bloom in the fields and along the trails and also caught a great picture of a moth hanging out on the tree right in front of our little deck.   

Above you can see how well he blends in with this colouring and below he is clinging to the tree, he stayed there until the dogs bothered him. . 

The bush area was alive with many flowers, Saskatoon bushes, wild Raspberries, Currents and Bunchberry plants.  There were also tons of wild Strawberries which did not produce well this year at all.  Cookie and Muffin loved the Raspberries and would eat the berries as we walked the path.  When they had cleaned up berries off the low branches they would stand on their hind legs to get the berries from the higher branches, they looked so cute but I was not able to capture any pictures.

Bunchberries in bloom, they cover the ground in areas of the bush.

Later in summer, each plant has at least 3 berries in the center that last until the snow flies.  

Tiger Lilies bloom throughout July along trails and in the bush. 

These little Asters bloomed in abundance throughout the summer.

Part of the field of Asters, they don’t look like much but were actually very pretty, I just did not capture the beauty.

I took this a few days ago this Aster was still surviving in the bush. 

I liked the variety of colours and shapes all intermingling.  

I love the way the sun is shinning on these plants.

 

These plants have bright pink blossoms and bloom most of the summer, when they go to seed they produce the fluffy white seed pods with very pretty curled tendrils wrapping around the stem, very pretty and interesting, I just did not take a close up picture of the tendrils but will next year!

There are coyotes galore every year here which serenaded us many evenings and this year for the first time we had a couple of bears hanging out in the bush. Woody and other hikers saw lots of bear scat along the trails, Woody spotted one Black bear and we had reports of a Cinnamon coloured black bear as well.   We posted Caution signs so all users of the park would be aware of the bears presence.  I always stuck to the one trail that did not have any bear scat present or walked the field when walking the dogs, I had no desire to see the bears, not that there was much chance of that, the dogs and I make too much noise!

New Look

We had new carpet installed in the living area and the garage which is now a combo office, storage area and Woody's work area.

After saying goodby to Will and Sean we got busy and moved all the furniture, cupboards and other stuff out of the fifth wheel. We were just about finished when Norm arrived at 10:00 am and lucky for us it was a nice day as everything had to be outside during the installation. Woody opend the large drop door at the back of the fifth, propped it up so we could move my desk, chairs, cupboards, and othe stuff onto the door. The other items had to sit on the ground, wished I would have taken some pictures but we were so busy, did not think of it. Anyway the carpet was installed, good quality berber with industrial underlay so should last awhile. We had to hurry and move all the stuff back in as it had started to sprimkle, lucky for us it was just a shower and not a downpour. It took several days to get everything back in place again, as we have to secure all items so they do not bounce around while travelling. Here are a couple of pics of the new look!

The new carpet is extended to the cupboards which creates the look and feel of a larger living space.

We also got rid of the dinette bench, we had tossed one out while in AZ and bought the two chairs and now decided we like the extra space, so did not reinstall the bench and will stick with just 2 chairs. We will pick up some small folding chairs for extra seating for company though.

The carpet is so nice in what was the garage, this space is warmer and feels more like part of our home now.

My desk on the right and Woody's bench on the left, sorry couldn't get a better pic of his area due to small area.

I really do like my space now, better organized and feels so much warmer and brighter.

Thought we would be finished with renovations when we sold the house but I guess we are addicted eh! LOL

Sure worth it though, better use of space and suits our needs much better!

My dear husband has more plans to improve our living space but that will wait until next year or maybe happen while we are in AZ this winter!

Huck and Sean Visit

Huck (Will) and Whip (Sean) stopped by at the Rolling Castle Saturday afternoon, they were on their way to Yellowknife, NWT and from there they will fly north to hunt Musk ox. We had a great visit, ate, shared some Adult beverages, and left around 8:00 am Sunday for the remainder of the drive to Yellowknife (about 15 hours). We were so happy to see Huck again and meet Whip, great guys both of them!!! They are interesting, pleasant and fun to visit with, time flew by so fast, we were so busy enjoying our time with them that we only managed to snap a couple of pictures. They do plan on stopping again on their way home and we are looking forward to seeing them again. If you ever get a chance to meet either one, do not pass up the opportunity, you will not be disappointed. They are first class people!





Huck (Will), Woody and Whip (Sean)

Patsy's 65th Birthday

I had a wonderful 65th birthday! During the day a friend (Carolyn) I used to work with dropped in, we visited for a couple of hours, Myrna, my friend since we were 9 years old called, we yakked on the phone for over an hour, she has always been my soul mate. Woody was gone all day working on an ongoing reno for a friend. When he returned home he said he was so sorry he had not had time to get a card or anything, and then he totally surprised me with a delivery of a dozen red and white roses and card delivered to our home and then a gathering of about 20 friends and family! I was totally surprised as we had discussed my birthday previously, I had said a get to together with Tracy, Michelle and families on Monday would be just great, not to worry about anything on Friday!





The gorgeous bouquet from my beloved husband!














Friends, Stan and Deb, with guess who in the middle eh!




Friends, Harvey, Karen, and Linda








I am so blessed to have received many cards, which I have displayed in our home, lotto tickets (didn't win any money but had fun dreaming), wine (saving for another special day) and these beautiful flowers from friends.






A group in the campground were having a sing song in the shelter next door and a couple graciously came over and sung Happy Birthday to me. Standing to the left is friend Carolyn!

Allen, our old friend and former neighbor, Janice and Dale.

Granddaughter Caitlin, Brooklyn, sitting on Tracy's knee and Michelle.

Dale is the friend Woody is doing the Reno for. He is a great guy!

This was so much fun!

Ron, Frank, Pat and Jill!

Christine, her Mom Karen and our grandson Christopher!

Son-in-law Keith, Tracy, daughter Brooklyn, and me ole Grandma!

Back of Frank's head, Jose, husband Norm, Myrna and husband Ron. Jose, Norm, Myrna, Ron and Frank are members of Onoway Fish and Game Assoc. Norm and Jose manage Imrie Park along with help from other members.

Granddaughter Lindsey in the foreground,

Dave, Norm, Jose, Myrna and just caught Ron on the right.

Jill with her back to us, Dave, and Jill;s husband Scott. Scott is one of Woody's hunting buddies and I totally enjoy both he and Jill, great people. Scott is part owner of the Wild TV channel, the only Canadian hunting channel.

It had rained all day, was very cool but the sun blessed us during the evening so we were able to enjoy the outdoors for awhile then retreated to the kitchen where we had a warm fire in the woodstove! The evening went by so fast and thanks to all our friends and family I shall remember this day forever, I do belieive it was one of my best birthday's ever!

Thanks to my husband for organizing it, and our friends and family for helping us celebrate!

Fire Pit

One of our faithful campers here in the park donated a fire pit for our site, the fire pit is very unique and cannot be purchased in any store. The cone comes from a coal mine, is stainless steel and is perforated throughout making it ideal for a fire pit. Rick and Wendy camp here all the time and have also donated Solar Lights for each site in the park as well as money for other small projects at the park. Rick delivered the fire pit on Friday night and we were planning on having a “fire pit planting party” on Sunday but the weather did not cooperate so after Woody completed his park duties we decided to “plant the fire pit” this evening. We invited Wendy for the sod turning (Rick was working). As you can see in the picture below Wendy just couldn’t sit and watch.

Sure is nice to have the tractor to use!

Wendy and I supervising!

Not quite finished, need some washed rock to finish our masterpiece. The outside ring was also donated to us by Rick and Wendy. Thanks guys we will enjoy the firepit for years to come!

We have not initiated the fire pit yet but soon!

Lunch at Wabamun Lake

I met our 2 girls, Tracy, Michelle, their girls and Oreo for lunch at Wabamun Lake Provincial Park and spent the afternoon enjoying time with the girls. The park has three day use areas; they are beautiful and very large with access to the lake. Being a weekday I was surprised how many people were there making use of the area we choose. I treasure time with just “us girls”, the grandchildren are a delight and it gives us all a time to relax, take in the scenery and engage ourselves in “girl talk”.
The day use area is on Moonlight Bay and small part of the lake. The Park offers many activities, from walking, bird watching, swimming, boating etc. For more information click on the links below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabamun_Lake_Provincial_Park

http://www.travelwestvisual.com/TravelAlberta/Home/Pages/Heartland/DryVaAr/WabLa/ProP/ProP.htm

Tracy's girls, Brookln and Lindsey relaxing.

Brooklyn and Caitlin (Michelle's daughter).

Above and to the right, the day use area.

The day use area had 2 different playgrounds, the grandchildren had great fun playing on them.

A squirrel that played on the tree right by our table, drove Oreo nuts, she so wanted to chase it!

Tracy, Caitlin and Michelle.

Lindsey taking a break in the shade. It was a very nice warm day!

Hunting Resource Friends

Our gathering of HR friends was great; the weather could have been a little more cooperative though. Friday Vicky (HR handle doog3) and her husband (Rob) arrived first, travelling from the British Columbia coast area, then Andrew (HR handle) Elkhunter with his wonderful dog (Rascal) from Leduc, Alberta and last but not least Fred (HR handle Redgreen) from Medicine Hat, Alberta.
We spent the weekend relaxing renewing friendships with Andrew and Fred and meeting Vicky and hubby in person for the first time. After chatting in the HR Chat room it is so cool to meet face to face, share stories, tease one another, and become closer friends overall. Friday evening was cool but we did barbeque some of the delicious deer sausage Fred brought, shared some brews and stories,

Fred presented everyone with a very nice wall plaque, thanks Fred that was very thoughtful! Each plaque had a different animal, we choose the Bear.

We gathered around the fire pit after dinner, thankfully Rob and Vicky had bellows to help get the fire going as the wood was wet. We retired just before the huge rain storm began.
It rained pretty much all night but no one allowed the damp grey morning to spoil the day. Andrew and Fred had gotten up early and bought a few dozen donuts to go with morning coffee before Patsy (HR handle QueenNorth) was even out of bed! When the Queen finally got her butt out of bed and after walking the dogs, we set up the big BBQ in the shelter and transported food, dishes, etc., to the shelter and enjoyed a huge brunch of blueberry pancakes with real Maple Syrup, scrambled eggs and bacon prepared and cooked by our appointed chef Woody! Wow that was super bacon supplied by Andrew and Vicky. Woody almost burnt his beard when the BBQ had a grease flare up and no one caught it on film! We had food left over which we shared with a family staying at the park in a tent and Patsy loaned a couple of jackets to a couple of their children as their clothes had gotten wet the night before in their tent. Oh how we do not miss those days of tenting in the rain! We sat about visiting for awhile then Rob and Vicky went on a drive around the country side.
When they arrived back the weather was looking better, there was some talk of going fishing (it never happened though), somehow visiting just seemed more important. Rob and Vicky had bought more food and some special items for each one of us, thank you guys that was very special. We missed another good picture of Fred toasting a marshmallow on a toothpick with his lighter, dang we didn’t see him roasting it and popped it in his mouth just too quickly! It was roasted to perfection.
Our dinner Saturday evening consisted of tender savoury, super size 4H steaks from Andrew, huge tasty venison burgers from Vicky, corn on the cob from Fred, potato salad and chilli from Woody and Patsy, deserts by Vicky and us. We all had our cameras ready but no flare up fire tonight.

The sun was finally shinning as we sat around the fire pit enjoying the camaraderie of friends, warmth of the fire and admired the big yellow ball in the sky! Woody and Andrew got involved playing catch with a young fellow and his Grandma; Andrew lasted longer than Woody LOL. Rob and Vicky presented us with the bellows that we used again this evening, they had not used it in years but we were so happy they gifted it to us. We will make good use of it and thanks so much Rob and Vicky.

Sunday’s brunch of hash browns, sausage and scrambled eggs was again prepared by Chef Woody; Patsy was on KP duty for the weekend which worked well. Needless to say we had lots of left over food; everyone took home some deer sausage and some of the food they brought. The weekend passed very quickly and a unanimous decision was made to do it again next year and hopefully add a couple more days on to the weekend.

Don't you just love the look that Rascal is giving Andrew, "I love you aren't you going to share?"

Woody, Fred, Rob and Vicky, Friday evening enjoying some BBQed sasauge that Fred brought.,

Woody cooking Saturday brunch!

Fred, Andrew, Patsy, Vicky and Rob. You can tell it is a little cool we all have jackets on!

Saturday dinner, mushrooms, steak, venison burgers, corn on the cob and there was also, potato salad, chili and deserts. Sure glad we had the big BBQ

We invited Lloyd, one of the campers as we had so much food, for Saturday dinner. He and Fred spent some time visitng.

Hanging out in the shelter, Patsy, Fred and Vicky.

Woody caught Fred off guard and gave him his signature greeting!

Woody, Fred, Vicky, Andrew and Rascal, you can just see Cookie by Vicky's feet. Vicky arrived with dog treats for all the fur friends.

Rob and Andrew Saturday evening.

Until next year guys, thanks for coming and making it such a special time!