Greenwater Report for July 30, 2001

The Greenwater Report for July 30, 2001

Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, July 30, 2001 - by: Gerald Crawford

windstorm
July 29th, 2001: Cool and very windy today, in fact we didn't take the boat out until evening. There was quite a windstorm last night; doors slamming all over the house woke us up and in the morning the top of one of our black poplars was lying on the path. There was some thunder and lightning too, I am told, and there was about a fifth of an inch of rain in the gauge this morning.

grain cars
A few weeks ago, when we went to Hudson Bay to buy our pontoon boat, we went north from Porcupine Plain to Highway #3 and east to Hudson Bay. Years ago, that was a pretty important rail line; now it is out of service, but the tracks haven't been torn up. We were surprised to see miles and miles of Government of Canada grain cars there must have been thousands of them. Someone said the railway hides them there so they can say they haven't any cars available for grain when they have something else they would rather haul.

elk or
moose
John Davis was concerned that though deer could likely crawl under the couplings to get to the other side, it would be very difficult for elk or moose. Someone, I can't remember who, said that the railway is supposed to leave a gap every hundred yards or so to allow free movement of large animals north and south. That may be, but if they did, we couldn't see the gap. Next time up there we will have a closer look. In the meantime, if the elevators (or terminals) are plugged and the railway says it hasn't got enough cars, tell it to look on that line west of Hudson Bay.

saskatoon
The saskatoon season is about over. There are still lots on the trees, and one can have a pretty good feed, but the shriveled ones outnumber the good. Everyone reports excellent picking, and the commercial growers had a good crop. I don't know if we have enough for seven years, but we should be able to weather one or two poor years.

Pincherries
Pincherries are good picking right now. We picked up near the golf course the other day; right at the top of the hill, the berries were quite ripe; farther east and lower down, they were green. Previous to that, we found excellent picking at the north end of Uskatik, on high ground. Do you suppose the ones higher up ripen quicker? Or did the ones lower down ripen first and get picked? What a quandary! I am losing lots of sleep over it.

grebe
chick
I was down at the dock yesterday and noticed a grebe chick (grebeling?) paddling about in the shallow water, all by itself with not a parent in sight. It was moving East; at one point it was almost on the rocks, with big (to it) waves from passing power boats breaking around it. When it decided to swim out, though, the waves didn't bother it in the least. Then I noticed an adult about fifty feet offshore, looking all around. They didn't seem to see each other, likely because the waves were higher than they were. Finally, the adult noticed the chick and started swimming after it, but it kept heading East. I walked down to Szafron's dock to try to shoo it out, and it seemed to work for awhile; then away East it went again. The adult dove, and when it reappeared it was only a few feet from the baby. It looked as if it gave the baby a few good pecks; I wondered if it were trying to pick up the baby to give it a ride. Anyway, the baby again took off toward the Southeast, and the adult seemed content. I guess it must have been heading home.

pontoon
boat
So far, Doreen's fishing hasn't done much toward buying gas for our pontoon boat. She caught one nice little walleye last weekend, and a little perch yesterday; that must work out to somewhat more than $100 per pound of fillets. My GPS says the best time for fishing is between 9am and 11am, and 9pm and 11pm; we are rarely out in the morning, and by 9pm are heading for home, so maybe we aren't timing it quite right. It's a good thing we are having fun with the boat.

revamped
her store
Jenny has revamped her store, putting the work wear at the back and quilting supplies and sewing machines in the little room. Yesterday, she had a grand opening, with coffee and goodies and very low prices, so we went down to see the store and wish her luck. It looks pretty nice, with colorful quilting stuff around the walls and eight sewing machines and sergers on a table in the middle. Doreen was so impressed she brought one home.

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 July 30, 2001
Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, July 30, 2001 - by: Gerald Crawford
windstorm	July 29th, 2001: Cool and very windy today, in fact we didn't take the boat out until evening. There was quite a windstorm last night; doors slamming all over the house woke us up and in the morning the top of one of our black poplars was lying on the path. There was some thunder and lightning too, I am told, and there was about a fifth of an inch of rain in the gauge this morning.

grain cars	A few weeks ago, when we went to Hudson Bay to buy our pontoon boat, we went north from Porcupine Plain to Highway #3 and east to Hudson Bay. Years ago, that was a pretty important rail line; now it is out of service, but the tracks haven't been torn up. We were surprised to see miles and miles of Government of Canada grain cars there must have been thousands of them. Someone said the railway hides them there so they can say they haven't any cars available for grain when they have something else they would rather haul.

elk or moose	John Davis was concerned that though deer could likely crawl under the couplings to get to the other side, it would be very difficult for elk or moose. Someone, I can't remember who, said that the railway is supposed to leave a gap every hundred yards or so to allow free movement of large animals north and south. That may be, but if they did, we couldn't see the gap. Next time up there we will have a closer look. In the meantime, if the elevators (or terminals) are plugged and the railway says it hasn't got enough cars, tell it to look on that line west of Hudson Bay.

saskatoon	The saskatoon season is about over. There are still lots on the trees, and one can have a pretty good feed, but the shriveled ones outnumber the good. Everyone reports excellent picking, and the commercial growers had a good crop. I don't know if we have enough for seven years, but we should be able to weather one or two poor years.

Pincherries	Pincherries are good picking right now. We picked up near the golf course the other day; right at the top of the hill, the berries were quite ripe; farther east and lower down, they were green. Previous to that, we found excellent picking at the north end of Uskatik, on high ground. Do you suppose the ones higher up ripen quicker? Or did the ones lower down ripen first and get picked? What a quandary! I am losing lots of sleep over it.

grebe chick	I was down at the dock yesterday and noticed a grebe chick (grebeling?) paddling about in the shallow water, all by itself with not a parent in sight. It was moving East; at one point it was almost on the rocks, with big (to it) waves from passing power boats breaking around it. When it decided to swim out, though, the waves didn't bother it in the least. Then I noticed an adult about fifty feet offshore, looking all around. They didn't seem to see each other, likely because the waves were higher than they were. Finally, the adult noticed the chick and started swimming after it, but it kept heading East. I walked down to Szafron's dock to try to shoo it out, and it seemed to work for awhile; then away East it went again. The adult dove, and when it reappeared it was only a few feet from the baby. It looked as if it gave the baby a few good pecks; I wondered if it were trying to pick up the baby to give it a ride. Anyway, the baby again took off toward the Southeast, and the adult seemed content. I guess it must have been heading home.



pontoon boat	So far, Doreen's fishing hasn't done much toward buying gas for our pontoon boat. She caught one nice little walleye last weekend, and a little perch yesterday; that must work out to somewhat more than $100 per pound of fillets. My GPS says the best time for fishing is between 9am and 11am, and 9pm and 11pm; we are rarely out in the morning, and by 9pm are heading for home, so maybe we aren't timing it quite right. It's a good thing we are having fun with the boat.



revamped her store	Jenny has revamped her store, putting the work wear at the back and quilting supplies and sewing machines in the little room. Yesterday, she had a grand opening, with coffee and goodies and very low prices, so we went down to see the store and wish her luck. It looks pretty nice, with colorful quilting stuff around the walls and eight sewing machines and sergers on a table in the middle. Doreen was so impressed she brought one home.

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