September is Almost Over

Can't believe that September is coming to an end.  The true bonus has been the wonderful weather that we have been enjoying these past few weeks, only wished that it had started sooner i.e. July, promised myself that I wouldn't be greedy and say June.  Now the wish is for it to continue another month, and then we'll be heading south.

Strawberry Hall Area

Yesterday, Paul and I decided to a drive about to take in some of the wonderful weather and enjoy the autumn views. Leaves are intact for the most part so the trees on the hillsides look magnificent. We had no destination in mind, and more or less wandered aimlessly about.  With the wonder of GPS we had no fear of getting lost. Lots of harvesting was happening, field after field the combines were going strong. There was a strong wind blowing so the dust pretty concealed the activity. It would of been nice to have gotten a picture or two of the combines in the field. Maybe next year.  We happened to find one rather majestic old barn sitting in a field of wheat, waiting to be harvested.  This barn was located in the Strawberry Hall area, which is somewhere not far from Warburg.  So after snapping off a dozen or so pics, we decided to move on.   

We came upon a huge farming operation, it was the Warburg Hutterite Colony.  There was quite a large barn (amongst many) that appeared to have only geese, at first sight it looked like turkeys but as we got closer we saw that they were white geese. (alright, already, I know my eyes are getting old)  Then somewhere in my memory bank I remembered that the Hutterites are known for their down duvets.   

East of Breton

After an hour or so found the highway again, and discovered we were just a few kms from Breton.  Being that we were so close, I just had to revisit an old barn that I took pictures of a few years ago to see if it was still standing.  The barn was still standing, unfortunately the brush is starting to hide the structure itself.  Needless to say it is still very pretty with the glowing autumn colors; so now there is an updated version with a little less barn.  

We continued on to Breton and grabbed a water and a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich.  By this time it was late afternoon and decided it would be prudent to head homeward.

We had the girls with us, they are becoming such good little travellers.  I think this is one of the many reasons people like the breed, for they are such great little travellers and so easy to take anywhere.  We flew with the last two and they never batted an eye.  The added bonus - when flying with two dogs, my husband and I got a row of three seats to ourselves.

Bella (aka Tiny Terror)

Today was a big day for the girls, they had their first groomer appointment.  They left the house looking pretty scruffy, and when they were picked up I couldn't believe the change that took place, THEY WERE SO CUTE!!!  I just don't know how they can be such little trolls at times, often I refer to them as my "Evil Twins" with their mischievous antics.  Perhaps I'm being paranoid but I swear they plot their plans of attack at night while I'm sleeping. The groomer gave them a glowing report for good behaviour. 

Anyway, the little darlin's looked gorgeous when I picked them up.  Their little "top-notches" were still in.  The lady who groomed the puppies is also a breeder, she figures that one of her dogs could very well be the grandfather to the girls for they are out of the same line.  She commented how much Bella resemble the male that she had or still has, really didn't pick up on which.  

Emma (aka Big EM)

 By the time the pictures were taken Emma had pretty much worked out her little "top-notch".  She has such a big coat of fur almost enough hair for two puppies, consequently making her look so much larger than Bella, but in reality their weight difference is very little.

Emma

Emma remains being the little tease.  Everything she finds she drags out to the deck.  Have never seen such a collection of stuff.  Said to Paul the other day if you are missing anything, shoes, socks, headsets,  combs etc just take a gander on the deck it might be there.




 No new sewing projects of significance. One quilt that I had finished quilting is hanging on the wall at a south-side sewing machine store in Edmonton.  It made me feel good that they even asked, at first I thought they were kidding. Finally quilted the wall hanging that a lady brought to me a month or so back. Had my HQ Avante in for some minor adjustments. Noticed a few consistent glitches such as tensions not holding and skipped stitches causing me grief that translated into redoing some sections.  The lady was happy when she picked it up, her concern was with the front  - not the back, it really wasn't that bad on the back.

Bella

Have been told that I'm rather obsessive about things being perfect, and in situations such as this is where it will show up.  I'm sure Paul walks away shaking his head.  Sometimes I literally will drive myself crazy.  Wished I felt the same about housework!!

Until next time.

We have arrived!!

Border between NWT and Alberta

Off and on for the past few years, Paul and I have mused about heading up to High Level and further north to Hay River. Paul has always wanted to venture past High Level (one of the  places he had worked many years ago in his previous life). A few years back we were up as far as Peace River/Grand Prairie/Dawson Creek in late September/early Oct which at that time was getting pretty nippy i.e. cold. So we nixed the idea of continuing further north. But said we would return.

Always when we travel there seems to be some kind of 'event'.  Each time it happens, I truly believe we are blessed and the "kindred spirits" look after us. This time the 'event' occurred after we left Peace River and before we arrived at Manning. A very excited truck driver had come banging on the motorhome door when we had stopped in Manning to walk the puppies and told us what was happening - the jeep was swaying back and forth on the road. We were none the wiser, for Paul had turned the camera off in the motorhome, everything seemed fine What had happened is the cotter-pin that hold the hitch pin in place keeping the jeep hooked on to one of the tow bars somehow came off resulting with only one tow bar rather than two actually connected to the jeep and the rest (rock shield, tow bar with no pin in place) under the front of my new beautiful jeep!! Actually bought it a year ago but I still think of it as being new. My heart just sank when I saw the tangled mess, and Paul sighed heavily. (wished I'd taken a picture) At first glance, Paul just wasn't too sure how it was going to be separated, unless it was with a cutting torch. We did the most obvious, and back the jeep away from the motorhomes as slowly as could be done, when backing away one could hear the groaning and feel the pulling of metal and plastic being ripped away from it's forced position. Suddenly it sprang loose, at which time Paul was able to free the tow bar missing the cotter-pin and unhooked the left side. When the dust settled - there was no damage to the jeep, both tow bars were fine, everything was intact, on thing missing was the cotter-pin. We couldn't believe it - the only casualty was the rock shield that goes in front of the jeep. So we reconnected and went on our merry way and thanked the trucker who had alerted us to the dire situation.  From Manning it was a rather desolate drive, great highway but all one could see was trees. Both of us were hoping to spot some wild life, all there was what looked to be a Bobcat or Lynx carrying what could have been its prey. Even cell service was not available at all points. Did you know there are only seven highways in the NWT.  So in saying that it would be a little challenging to get lost.  If you haven't traveled that way, make sure you have plenty of gas for services are far apart and traffic is sparse.

Are we there yet?

As mentioned in the previous post, Bella and Emma have been handled the trip quite well. The two days were pretty long travel days for young puppies. They were confined to a small area in the kitchen rather than being in their kennels. This allowed them to pound on each other, drink, eat and occasionally snooze. We stopped regularly so they could do their "thing".

We found a lovely campground (Twin Falls)  just 10 km south of Enterprise and it had power, woohoo!  It seems if you are lucky enough to find a RV park, power is viewed as a prize, full service is not an option.  RV parks are not in ample supply.  At one point we were thinking will we find one at all?? The sites in this park are pull through set-ups which make it very nice, and they are quite large. Also, there was a very clean and well kept shower facility. It was such a beautiful setting, so peaceful and one could hear the waterfalls in the background.  Even without WIFI access and no television it was wonderful.  Mind you, my iPad had a SIM card, guess it is sort of cheating, huh!! :-))

The first morning's stroll which was about 5 km allowing us to snap some pictures of some waterfalls, Louise Falls and Alexandra Falls. I was a bit nervous about the walk for there was a bear that had been lurking about on different occasions between Louise Falls and Alexandra Falls.  So guess who was making a lot of noise as she walked merrily along her way. Wondering if the knee would take climbing a tree if necessary.  Obviously an over-active imagination, all that worry was for not, no bears, just noisy squirrels.  There were some very pretty little flowers along the way which yours truly couldn't miss taking a picture of, never can pass those moments up.

One thing on this walk that stood out was the variety of wild mushrooms were growing abundantly along the trail. Must of seen at least 10 different species.   Paul's and my knowledge as to what is edible is "zero" Geez, that would be awful to poison ourselves.

Louise Falls

Closer look at Louise Falls

The first waterfall we stopped to see on our walk was Louise Falls, located just behind the camp ground.  What totally surprised me was the color of the water, it was so reddish brown. Before arriving I was thinking because it is so far north, the water would be pristine - sparkling and glistening against the bright sun. You know how it is - these mental pictures you see in your mind. The spiral stairs in the picture is the beginning of the descent to get down to Louise Falls.  Not sure how many steps there were; but let me tell you there were

lots.  It was kind of spooky when going down the metal stairwell simply because you could see through the steps down to the ground and trust me when I say it was a long ways down. When thinking about it it was the face of the cliff we were descending.

Spiral Stairwell

Some of the steps after the stairwell.

Needless-to-say it was a beautiful day, just loved the scenery, the noise of the trees creaking in the breeze, the birds and squirrels, the low roar of the waterfalls in the background and the smell of the ground.  It's hard to explain, guess it was just refreshing for the soul and being able to reconnect a little with nature. We so seldom get those opportunities anymore.

The second waterfall, Alexandra Falls, was about 2 1/2 kms away, it was bigger and more impressive, but the water was still the same dark, reddish brown color.  Paul asked the guy who ran the campground, why the water was so brown, the fellow said it did have something to do with the minerals, but the speed of the water flow caused a lot of silt to be carried along in the water as well.  Despite the color it was still pretty.

Alexandra Falls

Paul at Alexandra Falls

On the third day we took a drive and saw a couple more waterfalls.  Our first stop was to the McNalley Waterfalls.  It's small, nice observation point to see the fall.

Gave the pups a chance to run then with no further a-do the journey continued.  Next stop was about an hour plus down the highway to find another interesting waterfall, called Lady Evelyn Falls.  It truly was the prettiest and the added bonus was the rainbow created by the spray of the falls.  Not sure if the rainbow is always present, but we just took it as a "kodak moment".

McNalley Waterfalls

The most hair-raising moment was upon realizing that my jeep keys were not in my pocket.  So Paul went one direction and I went the other retracing our tracks.  Can't tell you the relief that was felt when the keys were found.

Lady Evelyn Falls

We wandered a bit after that, giving the girls lots of opportunity to explore; then decided that it was time to head back it was about a two hour drive back to the campground.  So that concluded our waterfall tour, for the rest of the falls were located on the Laird Highway, not paved, which was a significant drive further on.  It will have to be saved for another day.  One of the largest falls along that way is, Virginia Falls which is quite a bit higher than Niagara Falls, requires a 2 or 3 day hike in, or what most people do, is fly in.

Bluebell

Did wander into Hay River to pick up a few groceries - was somewhat surprised to see how small it was, we both thought that it would be bigger. (Should have taken a picture!!) The groceries ran approximately $1-$2 per item higher.  Absolutely no box stores, or for that matter any type of chain stores or franchise fast food services.  Everything from what could be seen, the businesses were independently owned.  I guess the reason why we thought it would be bigger for it is one of the main centers in the NWT and any closer centers were a considerable distance away.  The population base for Hay River is around 3,500.

So that concludes the adventure to the NWT, if it wasn't for other commitments it would have been nice to stay for another couple of days...one last little picture as we head back to Alberta

The puppy wagon...

Hotties on Wheels

This  is definitely a show and tell...it is a bit late, meant to do this before we left for a little trek up to the Northwest Territories.   With all the good intentions that I had, it just never happened. Little did I realize that wifi was not an option in the north, in fact even cell service was not always available. Alas, it's here, albeit late.

This is something that I talked about for years when we had our other two girls, and just never got around to it, so this time it was done.  Bella (left) seems to very much enjoy the ride about, Emma is not too sure. For myself it's great exercise.  The trips haven't been that long as yet, the little excursions have been more to get them use to the rides.  The little jaunts have been up to Sparrow Pond, the round trip is about a 4km jaunt.  Somewhere along the trek, there is stop off for a bit of a break and so the girls can sniff/scope out the new area, as usual they have a bit a a love-in before we move on.   Perhaps they are honing their stealth attack skills, wow "guard dogs"!

Feel the love.

The girls handled the traveling very
well.  Made a play area in the motorhome so they won't have to be confined to their kennels.  While Bella seems to take all in stride, Emma after so long (i.e 15 minutes) will let you know she she needs attention, by letting loose some very high pitched whines, and if that doesn't work you will see her on top of her kennel.  Almost has a expression that says, "don't ever think that I can be ignored!!"

I'm waiting.

Nothing too exciting has been going on, with the exception of the daily antics of the puppies.  Even my sewing activities have taken a back seat.  So shall close this for now...and write about our trip to the NWT.

Yeah...it's finally done!

Coon Clan

Some of the gathering.

Truly can not believe that it is already  August 6th, meaning that it is over a week since last posting.  Gosh, so many things
have happened.  The girls (Bella and Emma) went on their first RV outing!!! We went to Sundre, Alberta this past long weekend, for my husband's gathering of the clans.  It has become a yearly event for the bros and sisters to try to get together, and as much of their respective families that can come.  This year, an older brother was able to make it along with his daughter and husband.  Trudy took the picture of the Coon Clan.

Yes, it done!!

Then, this past week was dedicated to finishing the last suit and yes, it is finally done!! It is such a beautiful fabric, a superfine wool, extremely light weight.  Do hope the young lady will be pleased with the results.  The vest is reversible, the other side is a fushia colored silk, to complete the suit there are two pairs of riding jods.  It will be picked up on August 15th.

Additionally, this past week the girls went for their Dr's appointment.  They had their second booster in a series of three, and the next one will be at the end of August and they'll be done for a year. Bonus!! Guess that requires clarification, they will have their "little" operation in October.  Dr. Harris examined them and they passed their examination with A++++. His comments were very positive about their over all physical condition not to mention eyes, nose mouth etc, which in the Shih-Tzu breed can have some very serious implications.  Emma weighed in at 4 lbs and Bella just a few ounces less then 4 lbs.  So they are growing at an exceptional rate.

Don't mess with me, Sparky!!

Ahhh, come on just a little bite!

Nikita is still not too impressed with their presence, here she is trying enjoy a bit of the fresh air in peace and Emma wants to play, which really isn't on Nikita's agenda at the moment.

This past week we've started taking the girls on a walk, they are getting better each time they go out.  So easily distracted, all good things take time.  At least that is what we tell ourselves.  The challenge is keeping them apart, it is all a game to them..

Lily from our flower bed

Finally, at long last the lilies in the flower bed behind our unit bloomed.  It seemed as though they were in bud forever.  Our home faces north and south with a high fence at the back so the sunlight is limited for flowering plants particularly when the days get shorter.



On my next 'to do' list is to finish quilting my Heritage Quilt which is on the studio frame.  It is about one-third quilted.  Made this quilt in Yuma this past winter.  It is an embroidery quilt. When the quilting is completed will do some close ups of the work.  Also have a wall hanging to quilt for a neighbor lady.  She is probably wondering what I have done with it.  Although, I did warned her that it will be awhile before it is done, she said that anytime before winter is good. So that works for me.

Till next time....

July 27, 2011

Well, not too sure why I've decided to take on something such this, already have many things on the agenda, but the notion of a blog has always intrigued me. Also, assured myself that it doesn't have to be done daily, for that matter even weekly.  So will dabble a bit and see it how it goes, should be a great way to keep track of events and happenings.

Bella

Emma

Also thought, it would be a perfect way to keep a log of our newly acquired babies with fur coats, Bella and Emma.  The two should provide me enough fodder for some "tales".  They have been keeping us busy for the past couple of weeks.  Bella and Emma were born on May 19, 2011 in Langdon, Alberta.  They are so adorable, a person can't help but love them.  Just look at those sweet innocent faces, now what could they do wrong.  Did I mention their needle like teeth that are growing at an exponential rate and can penetrate just about anything. They are particularly gifted at attacking pyjamas legs, feet, arms, hands, fingers for that matter - anything that move. They are so cute.  They were 9 weeks old when these pictures were taken.  A person can almost see them growing, particularly their little needle like teeth.  The housebreaking and crate training has come along quite nicely.

Caught in the Act

They have gotten to know their new surroundings especially the "rooms" they aren't to be in and the things they shouldn't be doing.  The little angels.  Oh Wait!!! I didn't say they were doing something they shouldn't have been doing!!! OMG!

Nikita

I have to admit that not everyone in our household is as enthralled with these little cuties as we are.  Her name is Nikita, she has been a long time resident in the home, trust me when I say she isn't impressed.  Nikita no doubt felt that she had paid her dues, and survived the last ShihTzus and shouldn't have had to deal with another two.  There are no more leisurely strolls through the house. Randomly laying where she pleases demanding attention.  Now, she is on constant "troll" alert. Checking the surroundings to ensure that passage is safe.  She does have one advantage at the moment she can jump to places where little stubby legs can't go, at least not yet.

Made this suit for a young girl this past June.

The girls spend a lot of time in my sewing/craft/office space where something is always on the go. At the moment finishing a Saddleseat Suit for a young woman. Yeah!!!!  It will be the third one since May this year so I am a bit suited out.  Although when a client sends to me a picture it rejuvenates my enthusiasm.  These suits are very challenging and definitely not for the faint of heart.  There is a quilt on my longarm frame that is beckoning me, and needs to be finished...soon.  If all goes well it should be in another week, perhaps.

Now, don't they just look too sweet!!!

Wow, its almost as tho they are posing!!