Greenwater Report for September 12, 2001

The Greenwater Report for September 12, 2001

Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, September 12, 2001 - by: Gerald Crawford

nice
weather
September 9th, 2001: It's been a lot cooler the past couple of days, and we have had almost a half inch of rain. We can't complain, it's still pretty nice weather. Right now there is a big, black cloud in the west that looks as if there might be water running out of it, and the wind is from the west At the same time, the sun is shining brightly an all the multi-colored leaves. We went out on the pontoon boat for an hour or so and admired the colorful shoreline.

early
harvest
We went to Saskatoon last Tuesday, going in via Highway No. 5 through Humboldt and coming back via Highway No. 41 through Melfort and Tisdale. We saw very few fields that hadn't been harvested, and what was out seemed to be either standing flax or swathed canola, with the odd field of swathed wheat or standing barley. Is this a record for an early harvest?

Gas
prices
Gas prices that made an impression on us were: Archerwill Co-op 76.9¢; Naicam Shell 82.9¢; Saskatoon 83.9¢; Wakaw Petro-Can 83.5¢ and Tisdale Shell and FasGas 76.9¢. I understand the Shell tried to bump their prices, but had to back off when the other outlets in town refused to go along. Needless to say, we fuelled up at Archerwill on the way in, and at Tisdale on the way home.

motor
home
We were in Porcupine on Wednesday, on our way to Hudson Bay with the motor home, and stopped for gas. The people at Petro Can told us the gas had gone up to 83.9¢ about a week ago; "our" Co-op had started it, and of course Petro had to follow. I put in $20 worth, barely enough to get the nozzle wet, hoping for better prices at Hudson Bay. No such luck, though, so I put in another $20 worth to get home, hoping this madness stops before I have to fill the old beast. I got gas at Fisherman's Cove yesterday, and the price there was 82.9¢.

canning
We went to Hudson Bay so Doreen and Lucille could help Marg with some canning. Having nothing better to do, I picked chokecherries, at one half hour to the pail. Four pails later, I think I had just about worn out my welcome. All the bushes were right in their yard; they looked like fairly young bushes, so suspect the property was cleared when it was built on, and the chokecherry bushes are new growth. They also had some likely looking pincherry bushes, again new growth. Ours have twenty-foot trunks with a few berries and dead branches at the top.

chokecherry
I have never seen chokecherry picking as good as that, or, for that matter, any other kind of berry. Some of the bunches were more than I could hold in one hand.

crabapple
tree
Our lone crabapple tree is carrying a heavy load, and the apples are lovely and sweet. Doreen wanted a few more for jelly yesterday, so I picked an 11-litre pail full in about ten minutes. Out of that, Doreen put up thirteen pints of jelly, nine of pickled crabs, and about nine smaller jars of chutney. If we picked the tree clean, Doreen would be canning until Christmas time!

boat
ride
Mary Lorenski, Carla Hipkins' grandmother, had a birthday last week, so we took her, Donna and Neil McDonald out for a boat ride on Friday. The lake was like glass, the only waves left over from some boat long past, and the reflections along the shore were remarkable. Of course, my camera was snug and safe back at home!

cormorants
We took them over to the northeast corner to see the pelicans, but not a one in sight. Would they be gone for the season this early? It's the first time we have been there without seeing them. We did see cormorants and mergansers (Herm Duerksen called them morgangeezers), which I don't think stay around all summer, and there were fifteen or twenty Canada geese flying by. Maybe it's closer to fall than we thought!

deer
Coming back from Hudson Bay Thursday night, we were down to about 35 mph for a good part of the trip, not because of potholes, although there are lots of them, but because of deer. Every time I sped up a bit, we would see some more eyes in the ditch and have to slow down again. None actually ran right up onto the road, but you never know.

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 September 12, 2001
Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, September 12, 2001 - by: Gerald Crawford

nice weather	September 9th, 2001: It's been a lot cooler the past couple of days, and we have had almost a half inch of rain. We can't complain, it's still pretty nice weather. Right now there is a big, black cloud in the west that looks as if there might be water running out of it, and the wind is from the west At the same time, the sun is shining brightly an all the multi-colored leaves. We went out on the pontoon boat for an hour or so and admired the colorful shoreline.

early harvest	We went to Saskatoon last Tuesday, going in via Highway No. 5 through Humboldt and coming back via Highway No. 41 through Melfort and Tisdale. We saw very few fields that hadn't been harvested, and what was out seemed to be either standing flax or swathed canola, with the odd field of swathed wheat or standing barley. Is this a record for an early harvest?

Gas prices	Gas prices that made an impression on us were: Archerwill Co-op 76.9¢; Naicam Shell 82.9¢; Saskatoon 83.9¢; Wakaw Petro-Can 83.5¢ and Tisdale Shell and FasGas 76.9¢. I understand the Shell tried to bump their prices, but had to back off when the other outlets in town refused to go along. Needless to say, we fuelled up at Archerwill on the way in, and at Tisdale on the way home.

motor home	We were in Porcupine on Wednesday, on our way to Hudson Bay with the motor home, and stopped for gas. The people at Petro Can told us the gas had gone up to 83.9¢ about a week ago; "our" Co-op had started it, and of course Petro had to follow. I put in $20 worth, barely enough to get the nozzle wet, hoping for better prices at Hudson Bay. No such luck, though, so I put in another $20 worth to get home, hoping this madness stops before I have to fill the old beast. I got gas at Fisherman's Cove yesterday, and the price there was 82.9¢.

canning	We went to Hudson Bay so Doreen and Lucille could help Marg with some canning. Having nothing better to do, I picked chokecherries, at one half hour to the pail. Four pails later, I think I had just about worn out my welcome. All the bushes were right in their yard; they looked like fairly young bushes, so suspect the property was cleared when it was built on, and the chokecherry bushes are new growth. They also had some likely looking pincherry bushes, again new growth. Ours have twenty-foot trunks with a few berries and dead branches at the top.

chokecherry	I have never seen chokecherry picking as good as that, or, for that matter, any other kind of berry. Some of the bunches were more than I could hold in one hand.

crabapple tree	Our lone crabapple tree is carrying a heavy load, and the apples are lovely and sweet. Doreen wanted a few more for jelly yesterday, so I picked an 11-litre pail full in about ten minutes. Out of that, Doreen put up thirteen pints of jelly, nine of pickled crabs, and about nine smaller jars of chutney. If we picked the tree clean, Doreen would be canning until Christmas time!

boat ride	Mary Lorenski, Carla Hipkins' grandmother, had a birthday last week, so we took her, Donna and Neil McDonald out for a boat ride on Friday. The lake was like glass, the only waves left over from some boat long past, and the reflections along the shore were remarkable. Of course, my camera was snug and safe back at home!

cormorants	We took them over to the northeast corner to see the pelicans, but not a one in sight. Would they be gone for the season this early? It's the first time we have been there without seeing them. We did see cormorants and mergansers (Herm Duerksen called them morgangeezers), which I don't think stay around all summer, and there were fifteen or twenty Canada geese flying by. Maybe it's closer to fall than we thought!

deer	Coming back from Hudson Bay Thursday night, we were down to about 35 mph for a good part of the trip, not because of potholes, although there are lots of them, but because of deer. Every time I sped up a bit, we would see some more eyes in the ditch and have to slow down again. None actually ran right up onto the road, but you never know.

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