Greenwater Report for July 30, 2001

The Greenwater Report for August 6, 2001

Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, August 6, 2001 - by: Gerald Crawford

Hot,
Hot,
Hot!
August 5th, 2001:Hot, Hot, Hot! And coupled with the heat, we have high humidity that makes the heat all the harder to bear. In Melfort Friday, when we got out of the car the heat hit us like a blow. I actually burned my hand on Sandy's screen door latch, which is on the west side. I'm happy I don't have to do physical work outside I can work up a sweat just climbing out of bed! At least, it cooled of a bit today. We went down to Grimson's at Mozart to take some photos of their family gathering; it was lots hot in the sun, but delightful in the shade.

hail
While down there, I drove by some fields that had been hailed on. A strip about a mile wide angled northeast across their properties; they weren't the worst hit in the area, but it looks like a short combining season.

pontoon
boat
Hot it may be, but there's always the evenings, when we pack up some coolers and crank up the pontoon boat for a leisurely cruise up and down the shaded shore. I suppose you might say we are trolling because Doreen occasionally hangs a lure overboard, but it's really just cruising. Cool, comfortable, and the evening skies have been incredible.

Osprey
Nest
You have likely heard some of our fishermen speak of the Osprey Nest, possibly in the same sentence when they mention the Picnic Table. Well, the Osprey Nest has been abandoned for maybe forty seven years, and the Picnic Table was burned a year or so later, but it doesn't matter everyone knows which location the other is referring to. A Johnnie-come-lately like myself might get confused, though, because there is a new osprey nest, around on the northeast shore of the west point. We thought we had seen heads sticking up from the nest, and once we saw an adult osprey land on it, but then, on Friday, there was one head sticking up, and one standing on the edge. We figure it must be a young one trying to get up nerve to make its first flight. There was an adult flying back and forth on the shore, too. People have described to me how an osprey catches a fish. When it spots one swimming near the surface, it dives, then grabs the fish in its talons and, if it hasn't overstretched itself, flies away with it. I have heard of them catching one so big that they can't get airborne and eventually have to drop it. I keep the binoculars on the boat, hoping to see it for myself.

chokecherries
I keep saying the saskatoon season is over, but keep finding new patches. Most of them are dried up but you can still get a pretty nice feed. Some of the best patches are right by the non-modern cabins, which surprises me. When I was a boy, picking berries was a major part of every vacation (and how I hated it!) I guess the next generation would rather buy their jams and jellies. It is surprising how many people will ask what I am picking. Some of the chokecherries down near the Marina I figure will yield a good pailful in about ten minutes, and cranberries the same. What a year!

Porcupine
Plain
We went to the Farmers' Market at Porcupine Plain on Friday, first one since spring, hoping to get some fresh vegetables. Nothing! Which leads me to suspect that the gardens haven't done too well in the drought. We did manage to get Joyce Zak's last package of Swedish Thinbread, which I can eat like candy. She said there were lots of vegetables at the Farmers' Market at Hudson Bay, so assume they got some rains Porcupine missed. We did have a lovely lunch, though.

bugs
I guess our fool's paradise had to end Friday night I filled our water tank, and when I rolled up the hose I was attacked by mosquitoes. And yesterday morning we went out on the pontoon boat to escape the heat and were plagued by a few deer flies. When Jim and Jerry worked on our garage, they had to step very carefully around a hole in the ground that hornets (or wasps I can't tell the difference) were using as a home. I squirted a can of wasp & hornet killer into the hole that night, but next day there were still some buzzing around. Doreen got a bee sting on her neck, and I got some kind of sting on the bottom of my foot, between my toes. I guess that's not too bad, though.

Golburn
Fair
I judged Photography at Golburn Fair last Wednesday, the first time I had been there, about eight miles south and east of Tisdale. A very high quality of photography and lots of photos, though just a handful of entrants. I offered to judge their brownies and cookies too, but my offer was politely declined, so I had to settle for saskatoon pie.

Doreen & Gerald B. Crawford
Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 Check out my Webpage: http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg


The Greenwater Report for August 6, 2001
Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, August 6, 2001 - by: Gerald Crawford
Hot, Hot, Hot!	August 5th, 2001:Hot, Hot, Hot! And coupled with the heat, we have high humidity that makes the heat all the harder to bear. In Melfort Friday, when we got out of the car the heat hit us like a blow. I actually burned my hand on Sandy's screen door latch, which is on the west side. I'm happy I don't have to do physical work outside I can work up a sweat just climbing out of bed! At least, it cooled of a bit today. We went down to Grimson's at Mozart to take some photos of their family gathering; it was lots hot in the sun, but delightful in the shade.

hail	While down there, I drove by some fields that had been hailed on. A strip about a mile wide angled northeast across their properties; they weren't the worst hit in the area, but it looks like a short combining season.

pontoon boat	Hot it may be, but there's always the evenings, when we pack up some coolers and crank up the pontoon boat for a leisurely cruise up and down the shaded shore. I suppose you might say we are trolling because Doreen occasionally hangs a lure overboard, but it's really just cruising. Cool, comfortable, and the evening skies have been incredible.

Osprey Nest	You have likely heard some of our fishermen speak of the Osprey Nest, possibly in the same sentence when they mention the Picnic Table. Well, the Osprey Nest has been abandoned for maybe forty seven years, and the Picnic Table was burned a year or so later, but it doesn't matter everyone knows which location the other is referring to. A Johnnie-come-lately like myself might get confused, though, because there is a new osprey nest, around on the northeast shore of the west point. We thought we had seen heads sticking up from the nest, and once we saw an adult osprey land on it, but then, on Friday, there was one head sticking up, and one standing on the edge. We figure it must be a young one trying to get up nerve to make its first flight. There was an adult flying back and forth on the shore, too. People have described to me how an osprey catches a fish. When it spots one swimming near the surface, it dives, then grabs the fish in its talons and, if it hasn't overstretched itself, flies away with it. I have heard of them catching one so big that they can't get airborne and eventually have to drop it. I keep the binoculars on the boat, hoping to see it for myself.

chokecherries	I keep saying the saskatoon season is over, but keep finding new patches. Most of them are dried up but you can still get a pretty nice feed. Some of the best patches are right by the non-modern cabins, which surprises me. When I was a boy, picking berries was a major part of every vacation (and how I hated it!) I guess the next generation would rather buy their jams and jellies. It is surprising how many people will ask what I am picking. Some of the chokecherries down near the Marina I figure will yield a good pailful in about ten minutes, and cranberries the same. What a year!

Porcupine Plain	We went to the Farmers' Market at Porcupine Plain on Friday, first one since spring, hoping to get some fresh vegetables. Nothing! Which leads me to suspect that the gardens haven't done too well in the drought. We did manage to get Joyce Zak's last package of Swedish Thinbread, which I can eat like candy. She said there were lots of vegetables at the Farmers' Market at Hudson Bay, so assume they got some rains Porcupine missed. We did have a lovely lunch, though.

bugs	I guess our fool's paradise had to end Friday night I filled our water tank, and when I rolled up the hose I was attacked by mosquitoes. And yesterday morning we went out on the pontoon boat to escape the heat and were plagued by a few deer flies. When Jim and Jerry worked on our garage, they had to step very carefully around a hole in the ground that hornets (or wasps I can't tell the difference) were using as a home. I squirted a can of wasp & hornet killer into the hole that night, but next day there were still some buzzing around. Doreen got a bee sting on her neck, and I got some kind of sting on the bottom of my foot, between my toes. I guess that's not too bad, though.



Golburn Fair	I judged Photography at Golburn Fair last Wednesday, the first time I had been there, about eight miles south and east of Tisdale. A very high quality of photography and lots of photos, though just a handful of entrants. I offered to judge their brownies and cookies too, but my offer was politely declined, so I had to settle for saskatoon pie.

	Doreen & Gerald B. Crawford Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 Check out my Webpage: http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg