Frugal Friday

It is Friday once again and time to list frugal accomplishments for the past week.

1.  Baked two loaves of bread this week.

2.  Used up some of the small balls of yarn that I inherited from my mother on the baby blanket.

3.  Picked 2 cantaloupe from the garden.

4.  Dehydrated more herbs for winter use.

5.  Went to the library for free reading material.

6.  The rain we got and are still getting watered the lawn, flowers and garden. Gave the car a free wash as well.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Thursday Tid Bits

The days are getting shorter and the evenings much cooler. It is time to put the garden to bed for the winter. There are a few musk melons left along with the potatoes and carrots. Harvey picked all the onions yesterday and they have been drying. I am hopeful that the carrots and potatoes will be picked, washed and either dried or prepped for winter storage.

The garden did not produce as it usually has. We got very few tomatoes, green peppers, chili pepper or jalapeno peppers either. As far as beans, well we managed one picking of just enough for one meal. I am afraid the freezer is pretty bare as far as frozen veggies this winter.

Even my flowers did not grow as well as other years.

The weather was extremely hot and dry which could be what caused the problem.

Tomorrow I plan on finishing drying the last of the herbs. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Yoho Vacation Part 3

The third morning saw us going over Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park, one of the highest passes in Canada. Luckily there was no snow on the ground, they have gotten their first snowfall since we left.

We traveled down to Revelstoke National Park.

Our first hike of the day was in the Inland Rain Forest. Even though I was born in British Columbia I had forgotten how big the cedars can get.

Most of the trail we got to walk on these lovely walkways and not have to worry about tripping over giant roots.

This was perhaps the largest of the cedars we saw. No way would I be able to hug this one.

The trees seemed to stretch up forever.

The canopy in some areas was so thick we couldn't see through it at all. However that did enable lots of undergrowth to occur.

We have these growing in Saskatchewan as well, they just don't get as big.

After this short hike we traveled to our next hiking stop, Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk.

They were not in bloom so we did not have to suffer the usual stinky smell. I can just imagine what the trail would have smelt like if we would have visited in May.

The National parks in Canada have "red chairs" in them, kind of a signature. I actually managed to get Harvey to sit in one of them on this short hike.

We traveled down to Revelstoke for lunch and then headed back.

Thought I would take a picture of the tunnels we had to pass through on the highway.

We traveled through 5 of these tunnels through the mountains.

Where they could not engineer a tunnel road crews just blasted through the rock leaving sheer cliffs on each side.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Yoho Vacation Part 2

After spending the first night in our cozy chalet, we ventured out into the park.

Our first stop was the visitor center in the village of Field, B.C. We picked up a map and decided on what spots we wanted to hike first, and then made a trip into the small town to check it out.

Lots of old buildings for Canada. Painted in such lovely colours.

This blue establishment housed a pottery. According to the lady that owned said establishment it was over 100 years old. The stairs to the top gallery were very shallow, and were of different heights. Her husband and daughter were also potters and the quality was beautiful. We ended up purchasing two lovely wine goblets.

We then went to the look out that allowed us to see over the Kicking Horse River. You can't really tell but the river looked like a giant braid. There were large and small areas of glacial gravel deposited that the river twisted and turned through.

Then it was into the car and driving to our first hike of our vacation.

We stopped along the way to take a picture of more tunnels through one of the smaller mountains. 

Continuing our drive we came upon an opportunity to take a picture of two rivers meeting. One was clean and the other was rather cloudy. It was filled with glacial silt and hadn't had a chance to deposit it yet.

We traveled further up the road to the parking and began our hike. This was to see the Takakkaw Falls.

We actually made it right to the bottom, but did not clamber around on the rocks as the mist and water made it very slippery, even on the path.

This falls tumbles 254m (830 feet) in one fell swoop and then continues to fall another 130 meters for a total of 384 meters or 1,260 feet. This is among the highest falls in Canada.

While heading back down to our second hike of the day we came in contact with the first (and only)wild life that we were able to see. This herd of elk were sunning themselves in a clearing by the road. The conservation officers were close by to make sure that no one ventured too close.

Our second and last hike for the day took us to a natural bridge.

This actually started out as a small waterfall, but as the water found a way through a crack the bridge was formed. 

Down the trail a piece (we had to drive a bit first), we parked at the trail head to see Emerald Lake. 

Isn't it a beautiful blue green. We could have rented canoes and gone out to explore some more, but the clouds were moving in, and it was getting dark. 

We headed back to the chalet and a well deserved rest.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

We are home now and back to eating regular meals. Not that we didn't while we were gone as the chalet had a lovely kitchen and a BBQ that Harvey fell in love with. I think it is more like I am back into the regular swing of things, cooking instead of being spoiled by Harvey doing all the cooking.

Monday

Hamburgers, homemade fries, salad.

Tuesday

Chicken Breasts, rice and leftover salad.

Wednesday

Smoked sausages, potatoes in cream, peas and sliced cucumbers.

Thursday

Leftover pork roast made into a casserole.

Friday

Fish fillets, potatoes, and coleslaw.

Saturday

Clean out the fridge.

Sunday

Harvey will be at a football game so I think I may just have soup and a sandwich.

Everybody have a wonderful day. 

God bless.

Yoho Vacation Part 1

As we traveled through the province of Alberta, we could see more and more smoke. At first we thought it was from the massive forest fires in British Columbia, but soon we could smell smoke as well as see it.

We came across this large prairie fire between Medicine Hat and Brooks.

On the way home Harvey decided to see how wide an area was affected. Turns out 5 kms of field were burnt. We don't know the distance in the other direction but it seemed to stretch forever. I am just so glad that the firefighters and emergency crews were able to get it under control.

We spent the night with our son in Drumheller, Alberta and then continued our journey the next morning.

Our first stop was before we even reached Yoho. 

We stopped on the Kicking Horse Pass to see the spiral tunnels. These tunnels were engineered to make it easier for the trains to get over the pass.

Here is a picture of one of the entrances (though it could be an exit) of one of the tunnels.

The trees seemed to hide the other entrances and exits, and we weren't lucky enough to see a train using them.

Here is a model of the many tunnels.

They circle back and forth making it easier for trains to get over the pass. Harvey was quite interested in this part of our stop.

This is a boiler that was left behind.

There is an interesting story on how the Kicking Horse Pass and River got their names.

I already shared pictures of our chalet so I won't show them again. However I will share the beautiful sunset we got to enjoy that evening.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Friday Night And All is Well

We made it back to Kurt's, the first stage of our journey back to the old homestead.

Thought I would share some pictures of the chalet we stayed in.

We were kind of off by ourselves. The chalets around us were empty, so things were quiet.

The bath tub was in the loft upstairs. Lovely for that nightly soak which I seemed to need after a days hiking.

The lovely fireplace, gas instead of wood, which we could not get working correctly.

Everyone have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Here is a picture of our oldest son Kurt. Seems to be quite busy.