A Mixed Bag

Not a lot happening here at Dogpound North. September has not been the nicest month around these parts, kind of cool, a little rain and some flurries, yes flurries. We ran up to Rocky a couple of weeks ago for "Bring your Grandparents to School Day" at Ella and Alle's school. It is nice to check out where the girls spend their days and they seem pretty excited to show Grandma and I around their schools. After spending the afternoon with them we met up with their Mom and Dad to break a little bread before skedaddling for home.

Ella's Art

I did manage to get out a couple of days and see a little country, it was raining much of the time on the Eastern Slopes but once I broke over the front ranges it seemed that there was a little more sunshine to be found. The shot below is on the Forestry Trunk Road south of Highwood House dropping down into Cataract Creek.

This shot is of a new gate out in the Yaha Tinda's horse pasture looking west towards Warden's Rock on of my favourite views at any time of the year.

It was pretty obvious out in the West Country that fall was in the air and winter not far behind. And even here at Dogpound North the leaves are turning and the horses are wearing their winter coats.

This past weekend Justin came down to Carstairs for a couple of days riding bulls so I managed to sneak over and take a photo or two. The bulls weren't cooperating with me and most of the daylight shots they decided to show me their heels so this one was taken late at night. Justins first bull came out of the chute backwards so he got a re-ride option but that meant he was riding at 10:20 at night so the light wasn't great for the camera but the ride was pretty nice.

You can see the legs just under the bull and the shadow to the right of the picture, those are the bull fighters, these guys are the heroes in these events making sure these kids get down off these bulls safely. I know Justin has a lot of faith in them and depends on them to get him out of tight spots and make sure the bull doesn't grind him into the ground after his ride. Thanks guys.

Remember back a couple of paragraphs ago when I said September wasn't the greatest weather, but as it turns out October isn't looking much better, at least with what we have seen these first few days. Monday night it started snowing and pretty much kept it up all night and most of the next day. I took this shot of a gang of robins hanging around under our apple tree enjoying a little frozen fruit salad and discussing when would be a good time to head out of the country.

The snow came down thick and steady and when it finally quit we had a little over ten inches out in  middle of the yard away from the buildings. You have all seen the moose we have hanging around here in the winter, well we frequently have other visitors as well, this photo is one half of the onsite security that hangs out here all winter. He was doing his morning rounds when I captured him checking the perimeter. 

The last couple of days we haven't had any snow which is probably a good thing as many of our neighbours still have crops in the field to harvest, but it will take a while and a different forecast for harvest to resume around these parts. Till next time.

Getting Ready

Well despite my good intentions here it is almost 2 and 1/2 months since my last journal entry. When last I wrote we were heading to Vancouver Island to visit our good friends John and Gina, and planning on visiting with Renè and Jeanette along the way. All that went according to Hoyle and we had a great visit with them all. We went to dinner at Fort Langley with Renè and Jeanette and then once we were back at their place we headed over towards the ferry terminal. We originally planned to just roll up to the locked gates and spend the night right there, but along the way we came across a Bass Pro Shop in Twassen and decided that looked like a better spot to hole up for the night. We were on the early ferry the

She fits and didn't actually take up the whole ferry

next morning so were pulling into John & Gina place around 9ish. Our rig was a tight fit, but with some help from our new neighbours, and rolling across their lawns we made it into our spot at the Resort on the Lake near Westwood Lake. It is a nice place with friendly folks and some great walking trails that Maya and Max just loved down by the lake.

We spent a great ten days hanging out here, picked a few berries, told a few stories, shared some laughs and met Brenda's long time online friend Angela and her husband Don, RV'ers who spend their summers on the Island and their winters in Arizona.

Then it was back to Dogpound North, but first we had to navigate the forest fires that BC has had going on all summer.

Fires along the Trans-Canada Highway just east of the Rogers Pass

I snuck out one day to see our nephew riding a bull up at Sundre. It was a learning experience for Justin as just after this shot the bull won the battle and drug him around the arena a bit before he got loose.

Early September is birthday time for the Tomasir kids so we headed in to spend a little time with Kash and Everly at their birthday bash. A good time was had by all and Grandma got some snuggles in, tell the truth so did I but there were no camera's spying on me.

Kash and Grandma

Everly and Grandma

 The rest of September was taken up just fiddling around here at Dogpound North, got a little road work done, fill in some sunken spots around our fire pit and closed up the big burning pit we used to get rid of our old barn. Then it was time to take our rig up to Allandale to get a few warranty things looked after. One of our solar panels must have taken a direct hit from a meteorite or something as it was shattered, so that was replaced under warranty as well. Allandale did a pretty good job, but Heartland the manufacturer of our Road Warrior is pretty slow getting parts out to their dealers so it was there a lot longer than was the plan.

Dry Island Provincial Park along the Red Deer River

Last weekend Lacey and Clayton brought the girls down to have one last visit with us before we head south for the winter so it was great to see them one last time as well.

Alle

Ella and Alle monkeying around

We got the rig back today and other than the 50 mph winds that blew me home from Red Deer that went well. Tomorrow we start loading it for our southern migration, so we are hoping to be south of the Medicine Line and looking for warmer climes pretty soon.

Sunset over Dogpound North last night