Update from my brother, a new fence, and more weeding

The name of the game this week was yardwork, and lots of it! We had some rain over the weekend - they even got some up north). Garrett had stopped in with his dad the previous Thursday and the two had put up the rails for the fence boards. He said he was expecting delivery on Friday and planned to work Saturday and Sunday. The weather wasn't conducive on Saturday, but he arrived early afternoon on Sunday, along with his nephew, and the two of them had the fence and gates completed in just over two hours!

Here's a before and after:

The before photo was taken about a year ago after I had cleared out various railroad ties, rebar and other assorted junk.

Ta da! We were so impressed with the work this fellow did and would recommend his services. We really appreciated that he capped the fence and the reinforced the gates. I asked and he provided a special type of latch and we are able to lock it from the inside. (I should note the fence on the right was installed by the next door neighbour before C bought the house).

What isn't in these photos is the other gate and fence between the back patio (in front of the garage) that encloses the entire back yard area. The fence is tall enough that C can play with Sage back there and not worry about her scaling the fence and escaping. Plus it just looks terrific!

I spent an hour or so last week digging out the Lily of the Valley that was growing next the garage. It was there when we moved in, and when reminded that it can be toxic to dogs, I decided it needed to come out. The photo on Wednesday were simply three of the items that I found when I was digging. Not pictured included a hockey puck, a rubber connection for something or other, and a few screws and nails. 

On Monday I turned my attention to prepping the back yard for grass/clover seed. I'd watched a few Y-tube videos to get an idea of what needed to be done. I raked up much of the loose debris (small pieces of branches, some wood, and rock) before using a heavy rake to scratch up the surface. The rain we'd had on the weekend had some spots quite wet, but other areas were hard and dry so it took a bit of time. I also got around behind the garage - no fence there anymore and took down several small Lombardy poplars. One had fallen over in the wind on Saturday night, just hanging on by one root. Another I was able to push over! The remaining three or four trees I cut down. The debris is piled up behind the garage and I'll leave it there to dry before having it hauled away, likely in the fall.

On Tuesday, I followed up on the remaining trees by drilling into the trunks with my drill and spraying Round-up in to the holes. I'm told several applications will kill the tree and I should be able to remove them more easily. (I see more digging in my future). The former owners had also allowed a tree of some sort to grow between the sidewalk blocks. After cutting it to the ground, I gave it the same treatment. I have no intention of lifting those blocks (24"X24") to get at the roots, so I'm hoping this will eliminate any future regrowth.

After I'd mowed the front lawn, I went back over the back yard with my heavy rake, watered the entire area down, and used a seeder to spread the seeds. I quickly realized I did not have enough grass and clover, so I cleaned up and went to the greenhouse for more seed. Back at the house I finished off the seeding and spread some lawn soil on the areas where I hadn't been able to loosen the soil to my liking. Another watering and I was done with the backyard.

We have an area in the front lawn where the city dug up the water main (perhaps - it happened before C bought), where the grass is patchy. I spread a bag of lawn soil, spread the remaining grass seed (with some clover mixed in), and gave it a good watering too. As I've told my son, it's likely we'll continue to see patches there, and in the backyard, and he can add clover seed as I've another full bag of seed to be used. According to the information I've read/watched, the clover will be the first to come up, in about 4-7 days, the grass is slower to germinate but will start filling in over the next 6-8 weeks. I've warned C too, that his water bill is going to be high for the next while. Hopefully less than I think though as there is more rain in our forecast. 

I was able to text with my brother early in the week, and he said things are slightly improved, but they are still concerned as the rising temperatures can change things very quickly. Here is a video he sent me, of his drive into La Ronge. 

I told him "I probably would have turned around, NO, I would have turned around". 

I was ready for a break and took the day off on Wednesday, except for watering the back yard a few times. I spent part of the morning organizing clothing for our trip to Halifax, and starting the packing process. We're planning to use one checked bag for clothing, and the second will hold Eli's booster seat, and other items that I have no knowledge of, but my daughter does. Later a quick trip to the thrift store netted me two pairs of shorts for Eli and a set of vintage salt and pepper shakers. Then it was off to Stitch and Chat at the library. 

Thursday was weeding day. Our neighbours to the south is useless too busy to take care of their side yard. As a result there are weeds of various sorts, including grass, creeping bellflower, thistles, etc. It is an eyesore and I was tired of looking at it. I took out all of the grass, thistle, bellflower, and wee elm saplings, but left the yellow flowering weeds. They are kind of pretty and I figured I'd leave something for them to do. Before and after photos are below, and I continued along the fence line (not shown) to get rid of the grass that has grown under the fence and next to our driveway. 

You can see I've left the newspaper, cardboard and stepping stones/rocks as well. I'm nice, just not that nice.

Friday was a quiet day, as it rained a bit which was nice, but not enough for the newly seeded back yard. I've been watering three times a day for around 5 minutes at a time to keep the soil relatively moist. In addition, I did some housework, laundry and vacuuming, and ran out to get a few groceries. It felt cool outdoors so when I returned I stayed in, and watched Y-tube videos of places we'll be visiting in Nova Scotia. Just 10 more sleeps!

Today, I'm planning to do a bit more weeding - I'm almost done everything I want to do outdoors. There is baseball and hockey to watch in the afternoon and evening. It should be a relatively easy, relaxing day!

Have a wonderful week ahead, everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Rain, rain please come to play

The weather forecast keeps promising rain but except for a few drops we've had none here in the city. It's worse still further north in the province where forest fires are ravaging the woodlands and communities.

Currently there are 27 wildfires burning, up from 20 earlier in the week and six of which are considered not contained. At least 33 communities having been evacuated thus far, and the fires have burned over 900,000 hectares, almost 2,300,000 acres. There are crews battling the fires on the ground with and in the air, but the weather is not cooperating and high winds are causing havoc. Early this week, one group of 8 firefighters were briefly pinned down until the air cleared enough for a helicopter to land to bring them out to safely. Thankfully, we have had no deaths in the province, but next door in Manitoba, two people died.

About 15,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. While some have found refuge with family and friends, hotels in the cities are also being used to house others. Approximately 9,000 have registered with the provincial agency. An estimated 400 structures (housing as well as commercial) have been destroyed. There will be people left homeless by these fires and livelihoods ended. 

One of the communities affected is La Ronge, with the Pisew fire having reached the town on Tuesday. At least two structures were lost including a Rona and the Robertson Trading Post. The latter has been a fixture in the community for nearly 60 years operating as a grocery store and a fur trading depot. Sadly, many Indigenous art and historical artifacts collected by the Robertson family were lost in the fire - these can never be replaced. 

In my late teen's, early 20's I lived in a community north of La Ronge. It was my first job out of high school working as a bookkeeper and dispatcher for a charter air service. La Ronge was were I went to purchase groceries, do my banking, and spend time with friends at the theater or the local bars. I also worked for a brief time at another air charter service located in La Ronge. I have many fond memories of my time in the North.

After I left the area, my younger brother was posted there as a conservation officer. He met his wife there too, and bought his first home. They still have friends who live in or near the community. When the evacuation order was made, they offered their home to anyone who needed a place to stay. But, as it's a distance everyone they know has found alternative arrangements and are safe.

On Thursday morning, my brother R called to let me know he was on his way to La Ronge. He has volunteered to work at the fire base of operations there, and has told he'll be assigned to the airport (or at least what is left of it). He will be working with another fellow to assist the helicopters and larger aircraft as they move in and out of town in their efforts to contain the fire. 

He picked up a friend in Prince Albert, as Sid has a home just south of La Ronge. With a load of gasoline in the back the two travelled north. R had received permission to travel to La Ronge, but they did have to stop at RCMP roadblocks along the way. As of this writing, I haven't heard from him but expect he is being kept very busy. He told me, too, that several of the conservation officers he worked with, all retired, have also volunteered, so it ought to be a bit of reunion for them too. While I'm sure they'll be happy to meet up again, I'm also certain they'd rather it be for a much happier reason.

I should note that our province is not the only area where wildfires are raging. Manitoba and Alberta are both experiencing wildfires as well. While the fires are usually the result of human interaction such as a campfire not fully extinguished or a spark from an ATV for example, the extent of the fires is a clear result of climate change. These areas have had less rain and less snow over a number of years, and much of the moisture of the snow pack is lost to evaporation rather than soaking into the ground. As a result the trees woke and rehydrated they took what moisture was available. With everything dry and high winds, coupled with human error or a lightening strike these fires are the result. 

Simply said, we need rain and lots of it. The forecast for many areas in the north suggest there may be a bit of rain this weekend. I hope, for once, the forecast is correct.

I anticipate I'll be back to my regular post next week - this week the situation in the northern part of our province has been on a mind a great deal.

Friday Funny

 

Trip review - Manitou Resort & Spa

A bonus post as it is too long to include in my weekly post.

Our weekend at Manitou was short but fun. When I was about ten minutes out, I called S to see where she was at. Funny thing, she was in the same small town at the local thrift store! I caught up with her there, and she found a vintage "Family" cribbage board with the deck of cards and the pieces. The board was made of cardboard, the pieces were like those from a Sorry game, and surprisingly the deck of cards was complete. The reason it was a family board was eight people could play as singles.

Since we were in town, we decided to stop for lunch. The gals at the thrift store recommended the cafe across the street, "Lost Aviator Coffee Lounge." S had the beef sandwich with a pasta salad and we ought to have shared it, but I chose the sausage roll. Both were good, but pricey. 

We arrived at the resort around 2 p.m. and were able to head up to our room. We chatted for a bit before heading to the mineral spa for a soak. Later we had dinner at the Water's Edge restaurant (again pricey but good), before we settled in for a drink or two and a few games of cribbage.

S's friends, B & B showed up the next morning. We expected them about 11:30 but were returning to our room after a soak in the pools at 11:15 and met them at the elevator! We quickly changed and we all headed to B1's van for our lunch. She had picked up sandwich meat, bread and condiments. B1 drives a Pleasure-Way camper van with a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. Lots of storage - it's very nice.

There was a flea market happening down the road and as we couldn't get into our cabin/suite until after 2 p.m. we decided to visit it. Basically it was a garage sale at the drive-in theater. This one fellow was set up with a sound system and sang for us. :)

Back at the spa we were able to use our room from the night prior to change to use the pools. After another nice soak, we were able to pack up and move to the cabin. It was quite nice, with a full kitchen, living room area, two bedrooms with queen beds, a large bathroom, and out the back door a large deck and a BBQ. 

Once we had settled in and had a drink, the other gals headed back over to the spa. I'd had enough so stayed behind to relax. I chatted with my brother, my daughter, and my son before I started putting dinner together. I used the BBQ to roast vegetables (potatoes/carrots/onion), to reheat a loaf of garlic bread, and to grill the chicken skewers. The latter two weren't put on the grill until the gals returned from their soak. They were pretty happy to find dinner was nearly ready.

On one trip out to the grill, I spotted two deer in the backyard. I called to the others to come look, but they weren't nearly as excited as I was. 

The evening was spent visiting, having a couple of drinks, a few hands of cribbage and another card game. I can tell you, that I was skunked in cribbage and was in last place in the card game.  We were all ready for bed and in our beds by 10:30 p.m.

We had our breakfast at the Water's poolside cafe...slightly less pricey than our previous meals at the resort. After packing up the cabin, we went back to the spa for our last soak, as we had to check out by noon. I headed out before lunch and grabbed a sandwich at the Subway in Watrous. 

About a half hour before I reached Regina, I checked in with my brother and found he was home. Since he's only a 15 minute drive off the main highway I told him to put on the tea pot. While we waited for the kettle to boil, he showed off the fence he's built around the garden. I assumed it was to keep out deer, but no, it's meant to keep the neighbour's dog off the plants. Apparently Wally likes to visit when someone is working in the garden and tends to lie down on the plants. That might be fine if she was a wee dog, but she's massive! I have no idea what her breed(s) might be but she'd be taller than I am if she stood on her back feet. (I'm 5'1")

I was pulling in the driveway just after 3 p.m. and ready for a long shower. I had rinsed off at the spa, but those minerals do a number on your hair. It needed some serious conditioning! 

We've already decided this needs to be an annual event. Last year it was just S and I, we doubled our group this year, maybe we'll add a few more next year. Should we do it again, I think we'll rent the cabin instead of doing the move from one building to another. Although the hotel was kind enough to let us use the room until we moved over, we were locked out briefly when we went to pack up for the move and had to get a new room card. In addition, it was nice to be able to prepare some of our own meals, and a lot less costly. Though we will need to plan our meals a little better as we ran out of some items and had far to much of others. 

It was a great weekend get-away!

Wordless Wednesday