Family visit and great scenery

Great trip south and west to visit family in Spokane, Washington. As we headed out we realized we would see a real cross-section of the prairies and the scenery through the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at a time when fall colours and migrating birds would be major features.

And so it proved. First up, a small group of a couple of hundred Canada geese roosting on sand banks in the South Saskatchewan River near Outlook during their midday break. They had likely been out feeding on grain or pulse crop stubble since early morning and would head off for another feast late in the afternoon. Soon they will head south.












Then a slightly larger mass of snow geese zooming around as they settle on a typical prairie slough near Rosetown. Although the numbers are beyond my ability to count, and I’m merely guessing at a couple of thousand in this picture, this was as nothing compared to other twenty and thirty hectare sloughs that we saw covered in what must have been tens of thousands of the birds.











A couple of hours later we were in the foothill country and I could not resist snapping picture of three things that are such an integral part of the Alberta scene. First, an oil derrick backed by the snow-capped ranges of the Rockies, and then, a few kilometres further south, the extension of those ranges, but a large ranch in the foreground, with groups of Angus cattle.















Then we were up through the Crow’s Nest Pass and a complete change of scenery. The Elk River near the town of Fernie is backed by more snowy tops and the contrasting colours of the spruce and yellow autumn show put up by hundreds of tamarack larch, with bare-boned poplars in the foreground along the river banks and willows on the sandy shores.










Down into the US at the Kinsgate border crossing and we were soon seeing vistas near Spokane.
















Our bonus? Visiting over the Halloween weekend and watching the grandchildren, dressed respectively as an orc and a vampire, getting ready to head out on their evening “trick or treat” expedition.

Grand daughter’s birthday

Visiting Spokane and enjoying time with two of our grand children (and their parents) who have recently moved here. The youngest has a birthday in a week’s time and so we had a sort of Mad Hatters tea party this afternoon. Not really an unbirthday party, but more of a slightly early one (just a week early). We shard the pizza she had chosen, and then came a gift unwrapping that involved the usual tearfest of coloured paper and then a slow examination of the goodies within.

We made it a double session as her brother was also due some bits and pieces.

We had made some of the gifts and these seemed to go down pretty well. Gabriella got the dolls crib with a sliding side that I put together in the woodwork shop. The mattress and blanket were also made to measure by Jo, my talented wife, so the thing was ready to roll. Here it is, with a knitted Teddy bear lying down for a nap. The one side can be lifted up or kept down. If you look closely you can see the pins, strings attached, that are inserted when the side is in the “up” position.

For Mathew I made a chair from walnut and Jo made the cushion for it. I also made him a wooden sword. Here it is. At least it was mostly wooden. The blade was cut down from an old piece of 2 x4 lumber. The handle came from a broom handle and the guard started life as the lid of a peanut butter jar. Mathew is going on his Halloween circuit as an orc, so the sword will be part of the outfit. He is deeply embedded in all things Tolkein and Lord of the Rings, so we have an order for a chess set from the stories. Don’t know if such a thing even exists, so now I have to dive into Google and see what is out there