Thursday, December 16, 2021

Round-up

 Might be just a little overdue but life here at Dogpound North is pretty much steady as she goes. The fact that I am finding myself going back to review past blogs to remind us of what and where we were got me thinking I need to either keep my journal more up to date or at least throw some things on here once in a while. 

Covid kind of has our travel schedule a little restricted but that said we did manage to haul ourselves over south of Speedy Creek in Saskatchewan to spend a week at the Grasslands National Park. It is pretty much as it says just grass, but there are some interesting critters over there, both bison and prairie dogs. The bison are pretty cool but the prairie dogs look just like gophers who have spent to much time at the feed bunk. There are also sage grouse and some mule deer hanging about. The campground there is infested with Richardson Ground Squirrels (gophers) as well.

Plains Bison Bull


After our journey out into the flatlands we were back here at Dogpound North for July and other than some cool cloud formations it was business as usual.


Compliments of our neighbours to the west in British Columbia we had a pretty smoky summer but we managed to break loose of our ties here on the farm and head out into Banff National Park for a week or so camping in the Bow Valley. Other than that aforementioned smoke and a poorly timed fire ban that curtailed our morning campfires we enjoyed our time off the grid for a week or so in July. 




Along with the smoke here it has been a dry year and our hay crop is down about 50% and the dust is creeping into everything.

Harvest was done in September this year in much of the country, the low rainfall meant small crops and faster harvest times. It will also probably mean with all the crops beating winter into the bin the snow owl population this winter will be smaller and harder to find.

For the second winter in a row we decided back in summer that we would forego our southern migration, we have some family issues to deal with and the covid potential in our usual stomping grounds lead us to this decision. With that in mind I put the Solitude to bed in September, winterized it, pulled the batteries out and brought them into the basement. We will enjoy another winter here at home.







6 comments:

  1. The bison is so majestic, what a fantastic photo. We too are home (for us it’s in Ontario) this year and are making the best of it. Also like you, I have been going back reading blogs, not just my own, and think I need to post more when we are in Ontario for long periods of time. It is amazing how many long spaces of time I have in between some posts.
    Keep safe, take care and stay healthy.
    Deb

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    1. Thanks Deb. I follow your blogs so more of them would be awesome. Hope you and Riley keep safe and healthy as well. Merry Christmas to you both and all the best in the New Year.

      Brenda Brown

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  2. Awesome photos John--thanks for the update!

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  3. Glad to hear from ya, but sad to see y'all spending another winter at home. Wish this pandemic would go away so we can get out and about too. But there are worse things than spending another winter at home, eh?

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    1. It is always so good to hear from you guys. We live in a pretty beautiful place so being home again really isn't a problem for us. Well except for that nasty cold weather lol. Stay Safe and wishing you a Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year.

      Brenda and JB

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  4. It is good you got out a couple of times, even if for short trips.

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