The breakfast met with general disapproval again but we cheered ourselves up with a quick potter around Rocky, visiting the cute kittens always on offer in the pet shop, buying postcards for mum and admiring the checked shirts, cowboy boots and rhinestone-encrusted belts in Henry's Western Wear.
We headed over to Molly's and after a cup of tea, Molly finishing feeding the cats and us watching her eat a muffin because she hadn't had any breakfast herself yet, we headed to the co-op. Andy and I went round buying tasty things for lunch while mum took Molly to get her inhaler mended. We were tempted by the 'necteots' (crosses between nectarines and apricots that look like slightly odd-coloured apples), tasty looking steaks and some very gaudy biscuits and cakes, but in the end opted for the more conventional cheesy rolls, salad, cinnamon buns and oatmeal and raisin cookies, and pushed the boat out a bit with a 'nibbler tray'. We had to visit another store too to get some frozen quiches and on the way out found a $20 note in the car park. Happy day!
Molly decided this morning that she had been planning all along to take us to Crescent Falls with a picnic, but Muriel and Gordon were coming all the way from Edmonton for a visit, and she hadn't once mentioned the excursion before, so this was a little disconcerting. Fortunately they arrived in good time and Molly soon forgot she had been planning to whisk us off. Muriel is Joe's sister (Joe was Molly's husband, and the quarter she lives on was/is a farm and was originally settled by Joe's dad), so she grew up on the farm, but has been married to Gordon for 58 years and living in Edmonton for most of that time. They visited England about 18 months ago, and we have been up to see them in Edmonton a couple of times.
They are impressively fit for an 80 and an 84 year old. Apart from having had a pacemaker fitted because his heart rate had gone down to 21 bpm, I don't think Gordon has had a day's illness in his life, and they both still go to the gym three times a week.
We ate our lunch all together and then Andy and I went for an Adventurous Walk around the land. It seemed more adventurous in the light of the possibility of cougars stalking us (fortunately none did). We headed right at the end of the garden and looped round through the fields that had already been mown for hay because they are a bit easier going, then crossed the barbed wire fence where it had been knocked down by an ant infested fallen tree, passed by the nodding donkey (oil well) then went to the right through the trees before crossing over to the next wooded bit by the river (rather then going straight ahead which is boggy and ruined Andy's happy coloured trainers last time).
We walked alongside the woods, trying to find the place where Joe's dad's original homestead was. We did find it we think - there was a suitable flat area near the river but high enough not to be boggy, and there was a hole in the middle with a spruce tree in out which Molly confirmed was from the old cellar. What we didn't find was the one piece of absolutely conclusive evidence - the rhubarb plant. Maybe it has died at some point over the last 90 or so years.
Then we walked through the woods to the sitting-on tree (modelled by Andy), where Joe once built a dam to make a swimming hole so the water would be less swift and would have a chance to warm up in the sun. We had a paddle even though it was right by a beaver dam and there were some big footprints in the mud made by something with long claws. Unfortunately Joe's swimming hole no longer exists (it was destroyed by beavers) but as it was such a hot day, it would have been great if it had done.
On the way back we followed quad tracks we had noticed on the way down. Some people have definitely been onto the land on a regular basis - there are lots of quad tracks, some so well used they aren't grassy at all, and some big swathes mown into the grass to make handy paths. In the woods, there are logs piled up and secured here and there as though they were one wall of a house, and there are also planks nailed between trees. We couldn't think what they were for (and still can't). Hunting? Paintballing? Interestingly there are no signs or mess eg pellets, paint, cans from drink, on fact any litter at all. Presumably it's people from the neighbouring (newish) property which has much less land, and shares a fence with the Day property that has gaps built in to it (not by Joe I'm sure!). From their perspective the land is probably unoccupied anyway, as Molly hasn't been down there for years and probably nobody else has either except us each time we visit, and the section down by the river is all wooded or swampy, not made into fields at all. Very curious...still, we decided that as they left it really clean and hadn't been destructive at all, it was probably good that the land was being visited and enjoyed.
By the time we got back we had nearly died of heat exhaustion. We had a restorative cup of tea and a nice chat with everyone round the kitchen table. Sharon Carson was there for a while and so was Lynn (the super lovely, practical and down to earth cleaner / housekeeper / minder etc). Tinker and Zoe also came for a bit of love and attention.
Lynn recommended Grillers for our dinner (the restaurant of the Walking Eagle Inn, which I'm sure didn't used to be any good) and I definitely chose the best dinner. Andy said his burger was a bit overdone, and Muriel and Gordon both had enormous steak sandwiches which you had to dunk in some gravy, and I had ribs. Although I was daunted by the size of it, I ended up giving as little away as possible. They were REALLY GOOD. During dinner a little bat flew into the restaurant and one of the waiters had to run after it with a cardboard box to try to catch it.
After our dinner we all went back to Molly's for a chat and photo taking because Andy is off home tomorrow :-( so won't see any of them until the next visit. Molly's hearing seems to have improved miraculously and her mood too, and all was good. Muriel and Gordon allowed themselves to be persuaded to stay over so we'll see then again.
Back at the hotel we photographed the long suffering official hotel canary and discovered that it hops from perch to perch if you point at it. Then Andy made a spreadsheet for the Sandra card game, we played one game, listening to country tunes on Spotify, and then went to bed.
We headed over to Molly's and after a cup of tea, Molly finishing feeding the cats and us watching her eat a muffin because she hadn't had any breakfast herself yet, we headed to the co-op. Andy and I went round buying tasty things for lunch while mum took Molly to get her inhaler mended. We were tempted by the 'necteots' (crosses between nectarines and apricots that look like slightly odd-coloured apples), tasty looking steaks and some very gaudy biscuits and cakes, but in the end opted for the more conventional cheesy rolls, salad, cinnamon buns and oatmeal and raisin cookies, and pushed the boat out a bit with a 'nibbler tray'. We had to visit another store too to get some frozen quiches and on the way out found a $20 note in the car park. Happy day!
Molly decided this morning that she had been planning all along to take us to Crescent Falls with a picnic, but Muriel and Gordon were coming all the way from Edmonton for a visit, and she hadn't once mentioned the excursion before, so this was a little disconcerting. Fortunately they arrived in good time and Molly soon forgot she had been planning to whisk us off. Muriel is Joe's sister (Joe was Molly's husband, and the quarter she lives on was/is a farm and was originally settled by Joe's dad), so she grew up on the farm, but has been married to Gordon for 58 years and living in Edmonton for most of that time. They visited England about 18 months ago, and we have been up to see them in Edmonton a couple of times.
They are impressively fit for an 80 and an 84 year old. Apart from having had a pacemaker fitted because his heart rate had gone down to 21 bpm, I don't think Gordon has had a day's illness in his life, and they both still go to the gym three times a week.
We ate our lunch all together and then Andy and I went for an Adventurous Walk around the land. It seemed more adventurous in the light of the possibility of cougars stalking us (fortunately none did). We headed right at the end of the garden and looped round through the fields that had already been mown for hay because they are a bit easier going, then crossed the barbed wire fence where it had been knocked down by an ant infested fallen tree, passed by the nodding donkey (oil well) then went to the right through the trees before crossing over to the next wooded bit by the river (rather then going straight ahead which is boggy and ruined Andy's happy coloured trainers last time).
We walked alongside the woods, trying to find the place where Joe's dad's original homestead was. We did find it we think - there was a suitable flat area near the river but high enough not to be boggy, and there was a hole in the middle with a spruce tree in out which Molly confirmed was from the old cellar. What we didn't find was the one piece of absolutely conclusive evidence - the rhubarb plant. Maybe it has died at some point over the last 90 or so years.
Then we walked through the woods to the sitting-on tree (modelled by Andy), where Joe once built a dam to make a swimming hole so the water would be less swift and would have a chance to warm up in the sun. We had a paddle even though it was right by a beaver dam and there were some big footprints in the mud made by something with long claws. Unfortunately Joe's swimming hole no longer exists (it was destroyed by beavers) but as it was such a hot day, it would have been great if it had done.
On the way back we followed quad tracks we had noticed on the way down. Some people have definitely been onto the land on a regular basis - there are lots of quad tracks, some so well used they aren't grassy at all, and some big swathes mown into the grass to make handy paths. In the woods, there are logs piled up and secured here and there as though they were one wall of a house, and there are also planks nailed between trees. We couldn't think what they were for (and still can't). Hunting? Paintballing? Interestingly there are no signs or mess eg pellets, paint, cans from drink, on fact any litter at all. Presumably it's people from the neighbouring (newish) property which has much less land, and shares a fence with the Day property that has gaps built in to it (not by Joe I'm sure!). From their perspective the land is probably unoccupied anyway, as Molly hasn't been down there for years and probably nobody else has either except us each time we visit, and the section down by the river is all wooded or swampy, not made into fields at all. Very curious...still, we decided that as they left it really clean and hadn't been destructive at all, it was probably good that the land was being visited and enjoyed.
By the time we got back we had nearly died of heat exhaustion. We had a restorative cup of tea and a nice chat with everyone round the kitchen table. Sharon Carson was there for a while and so was Lynn (the super lovely, practical and down to earth cleaner / housekeeper / minder etc). Tinker and Zoe also came for a bit of love and attention.
Lynn recommended Grillers for our dinner (the restaurant of the Walking Eagle Inn, which I'm sure didn't used to be any good) and I definitely chose the best dinner. Andy said his burger was a bit overdone, and Muriel and Gordon both had enormous steak sandwiches which you had to dunk in some gravy, and I had ribs. Although I was daunted by the size of it, I ended up giving as little away as possible. They were REALLY GOOD. During dinner a little bat flew into the restaurant and one of the waiters had to run after it with a cardboard box to try to catch it.
After our dinner we all went back to Molly's for a chat and photo taking because Andy is off home tomorrow :-( so won't see any of them until the next visit. Molly's hearing seems to have improved miraculously and her mood too, and all was good. Muriel and Gordon allowed themselves to be persuaded to stay over so we'll see then again.
Back at the hotel we photographed the long suffering official hotel canary and discovered that it hops from perch to perch if you point at it. Then Andy made a spreadsheet for the Sandra card game, we played one game, listening to country tunes on Spotify, and then went to bed.
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