Greenwater Report for August 14, 2000

The Greenwater Report for August 14, 2000

Greenwater Provincial Park - August 14, 2000 - By: Gerald Crawford

rained a bit
Cooler, yesterday and today. The cooler weather makes for better sleeping at night, but when the sun is out it is still plenty comfortable. We had lunch at the Beach Café today, and there were lots of people on the beach. It clouded over shortly after noon, then rained a bit and from then on it alternated sunny and overcast. Some very strange looking clouds that looked as if someone was getting dumped on. Jenny was holding a sorority yard sale at our cottage, but closed it once the rain was more than a threat.

Marean Lake
We drove over to Marean Lake for afternoon coffee, and a very pleasant visit with Lana and Derek Woulfe. John Woulfe had told us earlier in the year that they were building a campground with fully serviced sites, so we had to take a look at them. From our experience with the motor home, they were just what we were always looking for nice and level, so it's back in, plug in, and veg out. They also have a nice view of the lake, especially the upper level. The farthest one east may be a hundred yards from the golf clubhouse, the closest one about a hundred feet. Not much more than that from the boat launch, too.

popular with families

They tell me that the golf course is popular with families. It is nine holes, hilly terrain, and I imagine one would have a nice view overlooking the lake from most points. I remember the days when if there was so much as a cloud in sight people would make a dash to get over that road before it became impassible, which was almost all the time. Now, it is a nice, smooth, well-gravelled road.

hail
While we were there, there was a downpour, a bit of hail, and lots of thunder. A couple of miles south, the roads were dry. We shudder at the possiblity of hail, but I just haven't heard of much damage, at least in our area. Derek said he had heard of major damage in the Watrous area, pretty well wiping one farmer's crop out completely. Hail is funny stuff; it seems some areas get hit frequently, and others almost never. I remember one man in the Kelliher area telling me there had never been hail on his farm in anyone's memory, yet just across the road one year, a crop was hailed out. I have heard, too, of farmers stopping their hail coverage, and promptly being hailed out.

Kelly Chase
There was a huge sign on the deck of Kelly and Raelynne Chase's place, across the road from our cottage, this morning "Congrats on your retirement" and the number thirty nine. I think the thirty nine refers to Kelly's jersey number, not his age. I saw him out on his deck so hollered out "Congratulations!" Kelly answered: "Is that for getting out of bed this morning?" I gather there was a retirement party at his place last night.

Roadside mowing
Roadside mowing is well under way this week. None too soon, either; some of the weeds were three feet tall, making night-time driving pretty hazardous. An animal can be on the road in front of you before you have any hint that it is there. At least, when the grass is short you may catch a glimpse of its eyes.

July frost
Our July frost was more severe than I thought. I talked to Grant Kriger from north of Porcupine Plain on Friday and he said they had five degrees of frost at his place. He heard there was seven degrees farther east. Within two days his canola flowers disappeared, and he is afraid there won't be a crop. Grimsons were up on Monday, and Bryan was concerned that his pea pods may not fill. Peas are supposed to be frost hardy, but maybe their flowers aren't.

Pre-Harvest
I saw one swather at work last week, just north of the Park, and there are lots of fields that look ready for swathing between here and Tisdale. Bryan told us that if they hadn't had a bit of rain he might have been combining peas. Willy Sigstad phoned yesterday; he said there was some barley being straight combined near Quill Lake, but he thought the moisture was pretty high.

Shand Fair
I went to Central Hall on Tuesday to do some judging, then went back on Wednesday to take in the Shand Fair. Of course, I wore a false beard so nobody would associate me with the judging. It's safer that way. Garden entries were down drastically from other years, and I'll bet a lot of it was on account of the frost.

laptop computer
I feel like a one-armed paper hanger. I usually write my column on my laptop computer, leaving the desk top one for Doreen to play games on. I had a problem with the laptop, though, and after spending about six hours on the phone with the support line, they decided they couldn't help me, that perhaps the hard drive was damaged. Trouble with repairing computers, though, is that repairs cost more than the darn things are worth, if they are more than a year old. Maybe we will see if we can possibly co-exist with just one. Sounds tough.

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 14, 2000

Greenwater Provincial Park - August 14, 2000 - By: Gerald Crawford

rained a bit	Cooler, yesterday and today. The cooler weather makes for better sleeping at night, but when the sun is out it is still plenty comfortable. We had lunch at the Beach Café today, and there were lots of people on the beach. It clouded over shortly after noon, then rained a bit and from then on it alternated sunny and overcast. Some very strange looking clouds that looked as if someone was getting dumped on. Jenny was holding a sorority yard sale at our cottage, but closed it once the rain was more than a threat.



Marean Lake	We drove over to Marean Lake for afternoon coffee, and a very pleasant visit with Lana and Derek Woulfe. John Woulfe had told us earlier in the year that they were building a campground with fully serviced sites, so we had to take a look at them. From our experience with the motor home, they were just what we were always looking for nice and level, so it's back in, plug in, and veg out. They also have a nice view of the lake, especially the upper level. The farthest one east may be a hundred yards from the golf clubhouse, the closest one about a hundred feet. Not much more than that from the boat launch, too.

popular with families	They tell me that the golf course is popular with families. It is nine holes, hilly terrain, and I imagine one would have a nice view overlooking the lake from most points. I remember the days when if there was so much as a cloud in sight people would make a dash to get over that road before it became impassible, which was almost all the time. Now, it is a nice, smooth, well-gravelled road.

hail	While we were there, there was a downpour, a bit of hail, and lots of thunder. A couple of miles south, the roads were dry. We shudder at the possiblity of hail, but I just haven't heard of much damage, at least in our area. Derek said he had heard of major damage in the Watrous area, pretty well wiping one farmer's crop out completely. Hail is funny stuff; it seems some areas get hit frequently, and others almost never. I remember one man in the Kelliher area telling me there had never been hail on his farm in anyone's memory, yet just across the road one year, a crop was hailed out. I have heard, too, of farmers stopping their hail coverage, and promptly being hailed out.

Kelly Chase	There was a huge sign on the deck of Kelly and Raelynne Chase's place, across the road from our cottage, this morning "Congrats on your retirement" and the number thirty nine. I think the thirty nine refers to Kelly's jersey number, not his age. I saw him out on his deck so hollered out "Congratulations!" Kelly answered: "Is that for getting out of bed this morning?" I gather there was a retirement party at his place last night.

Roadside mowing	Roadside mowing is well under way this week. None too soon, either; some of the weeds were three feet tall, making night-time driving pretty hazardous. An animal can be on the road in front of you before you have any hint that it is there. At least, when the grass is short you may catch a glimpse of its eyes.

July frost	Our July frost was more severe than I thought. I talked to Grant Kriger from north of Porcupine Plain on Friday and he said they had five degrees of frost at his place. He heard there was seven degrees farther east. Within two days his canola flowers disappeared, and he is afraid there won't be a crop. Grimsons were up on Monday, and Bryan was concerned that his pea pods may not fill. Peas are supposed to be frost hardy, but maybe their flowers aren't.

Pre-Harvest	I saw one swather at work last week, just north of the Park, and there are lots of fields that look ready for swathing between here and Tisdale. Bryan told us that if they hadn't had a bit of rain he might have been combining peas. Willy Sigstad phoned yesterday; he said there was some barley being straight combined near Quill Lake, but he thought the moisture was pretty high.



Shand Fair	I went to Central Hall on Tuesday to do some judging, then went back on Wednesday to take in the Shand Fair. Of course, I wore a false beard so nobody would associate me with the judging. It's safer that way. Garden entries were down drastically from other years, and I'll bet a lot of it was on account of the frost.

laptop computer	I feel like a one-armed paper hanger. I usually write my column on my laptop computer, leaving the desk top one for Doreen to play games on. I had a problem with the laptop, though, and after spending about six hours on the phone with the support line, they decided they couldn't help me, that perhaps the hard drive was damaged. Trouble with repairing computers, though, is that repairs cost more than the darn things are worth, if they are more than a year old. Maybe we will see if we can possibly co-exist with just one. Sounds tough.

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