I headed out to Nordegg on April 16th. The weather was rather cool and blustery, but the forecast for the upcoming weekend, was a lot better. I took Hank along with me, and the two of us made the routine drive back out to the cottage. Along the way I had to stop for fuel and groceries. I also stopped a couple of times to let Hank out. He does not handle driving very well, and gets very nervous and uptight. Our vet even gave us a sedative for him, and it helps a little, but he still gets quite stressed.
I stopped in Rocky Mountain House at the grocery store. Before going in to pick up supplies I let Hank out, on the leash, at the edge of the parking lot. He proceeded to crawl through a patch of dead weeds and ended up with burrs all over himself, mostly in his face. I had to leave him in the truck for 20 minutes while I picked up supplies. For the last hour of the drive, from Rocky Mountain House to Nordegg, he was just defeated. The burrs were really bugging him, and he was not very happy. He just sat in my lap and rested his head on my chest for the rest of the drive out. Over the next couple of days we managed to get rid of most of the burrs. Some of them he was able to rub out and shake off on his own. He is very fussy about having his fur tugged at, but over several sessions I sat him down and one by one picked out all of the burrs. They were everywhere... on his belly, around his eyes, on his ear tufts, and surrounding his muzzle and chin. Slowly but surely they all disappeared... one by one.
On April 17th, my 62nd birthday, the weather still wasn't great, so I just hung around the cabin. I worked on the colorized sketch of the Fife Lake Hotel that I have been puttering around on. I watched a hockey game, made something to eat, and continued to pick at Hank's burrs.
April 18th was Good Friday, and it was a beautiful day. It was clear and sunny most of the day, and the temperature peaked at +20C. I left Hank in the cottage for the afternoon and took my camera up to the Nordegg Historic Site. I had arranged for yet another tour, to take more photographs. Later that afternoon, Margarit and Helena came out to the cottage. We made a nice barbecue and enjoyed a dinner together. In the evening Margarit and I wandered over to our neighbors place and enjoyed a visit and an evening fire, while Helena hung out in the guest cottage.
On Saturday we woke up to some snow. Although it didn't get nearly as warm as the day before, the temperature did get up well above zero and the snow was fairly shortlived. Margarit and I took a walk back up to the mine site as I had left behind a pair of my gloves the day prior. We found them inside one of the buildings where I had been taking photographs. It was very wet and muddy not only from the fresh snow, but there was still a fair bit of old snow left in sheltered areas. Hank got totally wet and filthy plowing through it all.
Later that evening we had another nice dinner at the cottage. Helena and Margarit and Hank headed back to the city that evening. After they left I went over and visited with some neighbors and played cards in the evening.
On Easter Sunday I woke up to snow again. This time there was quite a bit more... probably 3 inches or so. Once again the sun came out and made short work of it. I took a load of garbage to the dump and then continued on for a drive up to Abraham Lake. I managed to get out with both my 4x5 and my 8x10 view camera for a few photographs.
We saw a reasonable amount of wildlife over the weekend. The Dark Eyed Juncos are busy at our bird feeders and on Friday I saw a huge Pileated Woodpecker. The usual White Tail Deer are always around. Margarit and I saw a solitary elk just outside of the townsite. During my drive out west I saw some Bighorn Sheep and a coyote. On warmer days the chipmunks have ventured out of their hibernation, and Hank enjoyed chasing them.
Initially it was gloriously quiet in the subdivision but by Good Friday a lot of the residents starting coming out for the weekend. On Easter Sunday it was very busy in town and the parking lot by the store and cafe was pretty full. Hopefully everyone goes home on Sunday and peace and quiet will prevail once again.
By Sunday afternoon it was beginning to cloud over again and there was a heavy snowfall warning in place. Rain is supposed to arrive overnight and turn to 4 to 8 inches of wet snow. Is this ever going to end...? It seems the rodents can't get it right this year... both the Groundhog and the Easter Bunny brought this crappy weather...!
No comments:
Post a Comment