October 31st, 2010:
Hallowe'en! And it's a dilly – 12°C as I write this at 4:30, and sunny.
The kids should be out in force tonight, but so far, none have been to our house. Wonder if it has anything to do with that dragon we tied to our doorknob? Actually, a couple of teenagers came around collecting non-perishables for the Food Bank.
We spent last week out at Sandy's and Blaine's place near Carstairs. The weather was not very pleasant, but then we didn't go out much. We got a light snowfall on a couple of days but it was almost all gone when we left Friday.
There wasn't much snow until we got into Saskatchewan, and then we could see some in the ditches. This side of Rosetown, there were some very impressive snowbanks in the ditches, and it became apparent that there had been a pretty good storm.
Then we got home and found our driveway loaded with rutted ice, a snowbank on our deck and piles of snow where the sidewalks were shovelled. Sandy e-mailed us yesterday to say we should have stayed a couple of extra days – the temperature there was about 17°C, the sun was out, and the snow was gone. We just have to wait a couple of days. It sounds as if there is nothing but balmy weather in our forecast.
We had lots of fun with the dogs, of course. Sandy and Blaine spend a lot of time playing with the dogs as they work with them, and as a result the dogs are very people-friendly. They had about eighteen puppies just at their peak of cuteness, so we spent a lot of time watching them.
Blaine has a little John Deere yard tractor; he mounts a lawnmower in the summer, then a snow blade for the winter, so I got to help him with that. It's amazing how much snow that little rig can push, as long as it is fresh. They got a very heavy snowfall last winter, and he was able to keep the driveway clear.
My sister, Cathy, has been thinking of upgrading to a bit larger motor home, so we got together with her twice – once to Prince Albert to look at one she had seen, then the next day back in Saskatoon to look at some we had found. None of them suitable, though.
First thing I look at is the dumping arrangement; if she has to get down on her hands and knees and crawl underneath to dump, we pass. She has a small Class A (like a bus) but finds it a bit confining and short of storage space. She likes our Class C (like a truck, with driver's and passenger's doors) and has found a really nice one, but priced out of sight. However, she won't be using it this winter so has lots of time to look around until she finds just the right one, as we did.
Highway No. 11 to Prince Albert is in the process of twinning; I suspect they are about half done. It's going to be a pretty nice highway when it's all done. They should be able to get lots done this fall the way the weather is.
Saskatoon's traffic has been badly disrupted this summer, with the Idylwyld Bridge all but shut down and detours all over the place. Work was difficult during the wet summer, but they are catching up now. It is to be hoped, they will have most of the work done before the snow really starts to fly.
Well, it's getting late. Still no kids Trick or Treating, the football game is over (disappointing) and so is Battle of the Blades. Time for some power reading. |
