Thanks the to the 38 degree temperatures the drywalling has been completed - only a week behind schedule - the finishers will be taking over on Monday.
The yard is looking good, other than a few spots I missed with the sprayer I have most of the weeds under control, the rock picking and leveling continues. The mound has been getting watered but very little has actually soaked in, mother nature has been unable to help in this area of late. We have been staying in town and the other day I was out to get a change of clothes and turned the sprinkler on. I realized I was running late and had to rush things along and mistakenly forgot the sprinkler on, it ended up running for 3 and a half hours, I'm hoping some of this moisture made it into the soil!
We had some really good storms over this past weekend, the timing was excellent since we were house-sitting for friends in the city. One night we had high winds that downed lots of trees in the city and caused minor damage, the following night we had pea-sized hail and than on the next night we had dry lightning south of the city which sparked several large grass fires. The fires made for a spectacular yet scary sight from The Ridge, they were only a couple of miles east of the acreage, luckily the wind helped firefighters get them under control.
I had a prolo treatment yesterday morning after I got off my nigh shift, so we are out at the Van Ham farm so I can recover. The weather has continued to stay very warm, however last night it dropped down to 12 degrees and we all froze! On Monday I rode my bike in to work; it was 42 degrees with the humidex!
Today the kids finished swimming lessons, all passed with flying colors, Blair has turned into a real fish and has already got a save in the water to his credit, which will look good on his resume when he applies to the FD.
Tomorrow we return to the Hat and The Ridge, we have tickets to the rodeo tomorrow night, Carolyn is working this weekend so the kids and I get to hang out, going to the comic book store to stock up and possibly doing some fishing or tubing on the creek.
Kirby & Blair are off to summer camp on Sunday until the following Thursday, both are looking forward to it but Carolyn and I are already predicting a phone call from Blair early in the week wanting to come home, so we will have to see what happens.
I have one more week of work than I'm off for the following two after that, it was supposed to be three off but I've been called to do firearms training for a week with our returning recruits; I will take the training hours over regular work anytime!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
"V" for Victory!
The weeds have all been defeated but I'm afraid now of a mass take-over since I got crazy with the quad and harrows the other day and broke up all the cement-like soil around the house! I'm hoping they need rain in order to grow, since we are in the middle of our summer draught that won't be happening for another month. So why did I seed grass?
Well week two went by without a hitch and week three is looking pretty good as well, presently we are house sitting for friends in the city, we're not used to all these luxuries; bath tub, satellite TV, air conditioning, no wind! Is this what heaven is like?
Our bodies have definitely become accustom to the +36 weather, both of us were freezing in the house with the a/c, Carolyn was wearing a sweater and I had to go outside to warm up several times.
The drywaller continues to mud away, today they arrived at 0600 hours to blow the insulation into the attic, what a difference that made heat-wise in the house; instead of 45 degrees it was a much cooler 35!
The drywaller will done the middle of next week, he wants to get it down asap since the heat is killing him, than the finishers can start the following Monday. Its looking like we might be in by mid-August (finger's are crossed).
The kids are still holidaying at the farm in Bow Island (at Carolyn's parents place) they are busy with swimming lessons in the morning at bible school in the afternoon. I was out on Monday afternoon to pickup some stuff and had supper with them, than today I was up early and rode my bike out to take in "Parent Participation Day" at swim lessons, what a lovely thing that was especially after my 2-hour ride in a 30 km/hr wind.
Carolyn has been working all week, I'm back to days starting tomorrow, we've both been so busy outside that we look like a couple of aboriginals.
I set up a Yahoo email account if anyone wants to drop us a line, baring in mind I'm only able to check it every couple of days or so, it is cjzimmer5@yahoo.ca.
Take care all and keep cool, I know we are living off the Ridge!
Well week two went by without a hitch and week three is looking pretty good as well, presently we are house sitting for friends in the city, we're not used to all these luxuries; bath tub, satellite TV, air conditioning, no wind! Is this what heaven is like?
Our bodies have definitely become accustom to the +36 weather, both of us were freezing in the house with the a/c, Carolyn was wearing a sweater and I had to go outside to warm up several times.
The drywaller continues to mud away, today they arrived at 0600 hours to blow the insulation into the attic, what a difference that made heat-wise in the house; instead of 45 degrees it was a much cooler 35!
The drywaller will done the middle of next week, he wants to get it down asap since the heat is killing him, than the finishers can start the following Monday. Its looking like we might be in by mid-August (finger's are crossed).
The kids are still holidaying at the farm in Bow Island (at Carolyn's parents place) they are busy with swimming lessons in the morning at bible school in the afternoon. I was out on Monday afternoon to pickup some stuff and had supper with them, than today I was up early and rode my bike out to take in "Parent Participation Day" at swim lessons, what a lovely thing that was especially after my 2-hour ride in a 30 km/hr wind.
Carolyn has been working all week, I'm back to days starting tomorrow, we've both been so busy outside that we look like a couple of aboriginals.
I set up a Yahoo email account if anyone wants to drop us a line, baring in mind I'm only able to check it every couple of days or so, it is cjzimmer5@yahoo.ca.
Take care all and keep cool, I know we are living off the Ridge!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Battle of the Weeds!
This past weekend was very busy out on the Ridge. Blair and I drove Papa's tractor back from Bow Island, it took us two and a half hours! On Saturday Papa showed up bright and early and we spent the day leveling the yard and building up the 3 driveways; the main entrance, back entrance and front drive up to the garage. Than Papa mowed down all the weeds in the yard, they were really starting to take over the place, we were loosing kids in them they were so high.
On Sunday Papa drove the tractor back to the farm and left me with a backpack sprayer and a 10 litre jug of Roundup to spray the yard with.
Monday the kids and I hiked along the Bullshead Creek, it was very picturesque and we even managed to scare up some deer and a rooster pheasant, didn't find any snakes though.
On Tuesday Blair and I went fishing for the morning in the creek but didn't catch anything other than the two-way radio that I managed to drop in! Than the kids went to Tammy's for a sleepover and I spent the remainder of the day and part of the evening pulling all the weeds and garbage out from the back fence than burning the pile which was almost as big as the truck. I also went through another 2 backpacks full of Roundup.
Things are looking really good, I wish I had someway to upload my pictures, maybe when I get out to the farm I can get that figured out.
Back to work today and tomorrow and than off to Gull Lake for a camping trip, the kids are off to swimming lessons for the following 2 weeks in Bow Island so we should be able to get more of the yard stuff done as well as some exploring.
The house is coming right along, they have the fireplace installed in the basement and the drywaller has the first coat of mud and tape on the entire house. Carolyn talked to the cabinet maker and apparently he's got all the kitchen cupboards done and ready to be installed. We've been using the water from the cistern, still haven't got the irrigation set up but we don't really need it just yet. Still no septic field, they are still getting permits.
On Sunday Papa drove the tractor back to the farm and left me with a backpack sprayer and a 10 litre jug of Roundup to spray the yard with.
Monday the kids and I hiked along the Bullshead Creek, it was very picturesque and we even managed to scare up some deer and a rooster pheasant, didn't find any snakes though.
On Tuesday Blair and I went fishing for the morning in the creek but didn't catch anything other than the two-way radio that I managed to drop in! Than the kids went to Tammy's for a sleepover and I spent the remainder of the day and part of the evening pulling all the weeds and garbage out from the back fence than burning the pile which was almost as big as the truck. I also went through another 2 backpacks full of Roundup.
Things are looking really good, I wish I had someway to upload my pictures, maybe when I get out to the farm I can get that figured out.
Back to work today and tomorrow and than off to Gull Lake for a camping trip, the kids are off to swimming lessons for the following 2 weeks in Bow Island so we should be able to get more of the yard stuff done as well as some exploring.
The house is coming right along, they have the fireplace installed in the basement and the drywaller has the first coat of mud and tape on the entire house. Carolyn talked to the cabinet maker and apparently he's got all the kitchen cupboards done and ready to be installed. We've been using the water from the cistern, still haven't got the irrigation set up but we don't really need it just yet. Still no septic field, they are still getting permits.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Successful Move
Well we made the move on June 29th to the ridge, the last box was carried out of the house minutes before the new owners carried in their first. Carolyn and I had an eventful night in our camper, the wind was unbelievable, I was running across the prairie in my pj's chasing garbage cans most of the night. We ended up moving the camper to the east side of the house the following night to get out of the wind which seems to always blow up there.
The kids have been driving us crazy, they are not adjusting well to country living; "I'm bored", "There's nothing to do", "When can we move in?" are the most common questions asked.
I just discovered I no longer have access to my Telus email, they sure are allot quicker at cutting you off then Shaw was. So I will try and set up an alternate account on Hotmail or something so I can keep updated; that's been the only thing I really miss.
Carolyn and I are enjoying the peace and quiet, especially when the kids are gone! I have found some time for reading and working on my memoirs and novel, I actually started on a new book idea, its a kids guide to adjusting from being a city kid to being a country kid, I have some great study subjects on that matter, it should be interesting.
Take care all and stay tuned for future updates.
The kids have been driving us crazy, they are not adjusting well to country living; "I'm bored", "There's nothing to do", "When can we move in?" are the most common questions asked.
I just discovered I no longer have access to my Telus email, they sure are allot quicker at cutting you off then Shaw was. So I will try and set up an alternate account on Hotmail or something so I can keep updated; that's been the only thing I really miss.
Carolyn and I are enjoying the peace and quiet, especially when the kids are gone! I have found some time for reading and working on my memoirs and novel, I actually started on a new book idea, its a kids guide to adjusting from being a city kid to being a country kid, I have some great study subjects on that matter, it should be interesting.
Take care all and stay tuned for future updates.
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