Today was Andy delivery day. There were several stages to the process which in the end followed on from one another successfully and he got the plane this evening from Calgary.
We were out of the Rocky Inn Express before 8 and took ourselves over to Pat and Hamish's where we were greeted by the mare with her young foal right by the gate. We thought they might be timid or scared or that the mother might be protective of her baby but they were very calm and let us walk to the gate without being upset, and even let us take photos. The foal is really cute with a stumpy tail and a short fuzzy kind of a mane. They let Pat feed them carrots and stroke their noses.
We had a super tasty breakfast of pancakes, bacon, sausages and maple syrup with coffee and juice. Definitely a good breakfast to send Andy off with. Apparently Hamish used to eat 15 pancakes for breakfast when he was working in the lumber camp, which is almost impossible to imagine a person doing on a regular basis - we can only manage 3. We had a long chat with Pat and Hamish about all sorts of things - where Pat used to work, the downfalls of medical care here and in the uk, things that used to go on on the farm, places they and their kids have been and things they have done. We played with Toby and Polly and even saw Sammy the squirrel and a woodpecker. In fact it was a lovely visit except that Pat clearly disapproves of a lot of our actions - visiting the Roses for too long a time, staying in the motel, not cooking enough dinners for Molly etc - and made a point of letting us know just as we were leaving, which for me put a bit of a damper on an otherwise lovely morning. After Pat has also gone to time and trouble to be so hospitable the mixed message is a bit confusing and I'm never sure whether to smooth things over to diffuse the situation, or to launch head on into an argument.
We headed off to Sylvan Lake then where we were meeting Beth, who had offered to give Andy a lift into Calgary. Sylvan Lake is about half way to Calgary, and Beth and Stuart have a kind of cabin there which they bought this year. It came complete with all the previous owner's furniture, his OCD-ishly labelled shelves and the items on them, and a shiny glittery red retro style speedboat which is Stuart's pride and joy. He and the kids got it out especially for us to go for a quick joyride on the lake and Andy and I even got to ride/bounce along behind in an inflatable. It was more fun than I expected ΓΌ
We said our goodbyes and sent Andy off in Beth's capable hands. Mum and I returned to Rocky one man down, which felt a bit sad, but were there by mid afternoon in time to have a cup of tea with Muriel and Gordon before they headed home to Edmonton which cheered us up. After Molly had fed all the cats she selected Nick and Leslie's (Grillers was too dark) and we took her for a bite to eat. Again I was amazed by the 'half' portion of salad (which filled a whole, piled up dinner plate). Gordon said he thinks Canadians think of Americans as having ridiculous portions but don't think of their own food that way at all. Molly tried some Sauvignon Blanc and really liked it (clearly it is the best wine ever) and we went home for a piece of Muriel's pie. We rounded off the day with a long chat at the table, which then continued on the sofa and saw Molly staying up way beyond her normal bedtime.
Now we are in bed and there is a big storm crashing and banging its way around us. Hopefully it'll clear the muggy air a bit by tomorrow morning.
We were out of the Rocky Inn Express before 8 and took ourselves over to Pat and Hamish's where we were greeted by the mare with her young foal right by the gate. We thought they might be timid or scared or that the mother might be protective of her baby but they were very calm and let us walk to the gate without being upset, and even let us take photos. The foal is really cute with a stumpy tail and a short fuzzy kind of a mane. They let Pat feed them carrots and stroke their noses.
We had a super tasty breakfast of pancakes, bacon, sausages and maple syrup with coffee and juice. Definitely a good breakfast to send Andy off with. Apparently Hamish used to eat 15 pancakes for breakfast when he was working in the lumber camp, which is almost impossible to imagine a person doing on a regular basis - we can only manage 3. We had a long chat with Pat and Hamish about all sorts of things - where Pat used to work, the downfalls of medical care here and in the uk, things that used to go on on the farm, places they and their kids have been and things they have done. We played with Toby and Polly and even saw Sammy the squirrel and a woodpecker. In fact it was a lovely visit except that Pat clearly disapproves of a lot of our actions - visiting the Roses for too long a time, staying in the motel, not cooking enough dinners for Molly etc - and made a point of letting us know just as we were leaving, which for me put a bit of a damper on an otherwise lovely morning. After Pat has also gone to time and trouble to be so hospitable the mixed message is a bit confusing and I'm never sure whether to smooth things over to diffuse the situation, or to launch head on into an argument.
We headed off to Sylvan Lake then where we were meeting Beth, who had offered to give Andy a lift into Calgary. Sylvan Lake is about half way to Calgary, and Beth and Stuart have a kind of cabin there which they bought this year. It came complete with all the previous owner's furniture, his OCD-ishly labelled shelves and the items on them, and a shiny glittery red retro style speedboat which is Stuart's pride and joy. He and the kids got it out especially for us to go for a quick joyride on the lake and Andy and I even got to ride/bounce along behind in an inflatable. It was more fun than I expected ΓΌ
We said our goodbyes and sent Andy off in Beth's capable hands. Mum and I returned to Rocky one man down, which felt a bit sad, but were there by mid afternoon in time to have a cup of tea with Muriel and Gordon before they headed home to Edmonton which cheered us up. After Molly had fed all the cats she selected Nick and Leslie's (Grillers was too dark) and we took her for a bite to eat. Again I was amazed by the 'half' portion of salad (which filled a whole, piled up dinner plate). Gordon said he thinks Canadians think of Americans as having ridiculous portions but don't think of their own food that way at all. Molly tried some Sauvignon Blanc and really liked it (clearly it is the best wine ever) and we went home for a piece of Muriel's pie. We rounded off the day with a long chat at the table, which then continued on the sofa and saw Molly staying up way beyond her normal bedtime.
Now we are in bed and there is a big storm crashing and banging its way around us. Hopefully it'll clear the muggy air a bit by tomorrow morning.
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