This weekend has been cooler, but still pleasant. Temperatures reach the low 20s, sunshine, and gentle winds are pretty easy to take.

The Park was a busy place yesterday. Kids were playing on the playground equipment  while, in the background, Jolene Teale and Troy Gullacher were being married. They couldn't have chosen a better day for it - cool, but not cold, and a gentle breeze.

Lake Avenue was solidly lined with parked cars, but they weren't all for the wedding. There were lots of people on the beach, too, and in the water. They weren't letting a little cool spell spoil their beach time! There was an active game of volleyball  on the beach, and even the ball diamond was busy.

There were several parties and family get-togethers, but Dennis said this morning that, surprisingly, there was very little garbage. People must have done a good job of policing their sites and packing their bottles.

On Friday, I judged the photography and art entries at the Connaught Ag Fair, northeast of Tisdale. This time, there was a dramatic difference from photography contests in the past. Everyone must have scrapped the old 126, 110 and disk cameras and got themselves equipped with decent 35mm cameras. Technical quality, in terms of sharpness and exposure, was excellent, so I just had to concern myself with composition and adherence to the rules. Doreen and Lucille watched some of the horse judging.

Crop conditions, from north of Tisdale to the Connaught fairgrounds, are the worst I have seen anywhere, ever. For some reason, the rains have been avoiding that area.

Last Wednesday, after coffee, I watched the Park crew de-weeding the swimming area.  Pete and Wayne were in the boat (at least, part of the time) pulling a blade, which uprooted the weeds. Frank and Riel were in the water up to their armpits, untangling the weeds from the blade and pushing them to shore.  Last phase would be to fork up the seaweed into a cart and haul it away. I'll bet they were ready for coffee when they were done. I wonder if Pete ever got dunked? Charlie played it safe and harrowed the beach.

The blade is sort of patterned like a Noble Blade,  a wide vee, but with skids underneath to keep it from digging into the bottom of the lake. The cutting blade is a few inches higher, and I think it pulls out more weeds than it cuts. There is a vane on the front that acts like an elevator as the blade moves through the water; in the down position, it keeps the blade on the bottom, but when tripped into the raised position, the blade rises to the surface. Someone put a lot of thought into it!

I grabbed a photo of the freshly harrowed beach,  and then walked home. At the east end of the beach, by the Park cabins, two very pleasant men with a Bio-Forest truck and long handled lopping shears were taking samples of poplar twigs from up near the top.  I asked what they were looking for, and they explained that they were looking for bands of caterpillar eggs. The number they found would give an indication of whether we could expect another infestation next year. They were happy to say that they just weren't finding any, so hopefully no spraying will be necessary next spring. The cycle has been interrupted, or else reached a natural end.

Our promising saskatoon crop didn't pan out. I walked through the area that yielded so well last year without even getting a good feed. I picked some on the boulevard at Jessie Rotzien's, but they were small and not evenly ripe, so I quit after a half pail. I guess expecting two bumper crops in ultra dry weather is unrealistic.

We had a fantastic crop of gooseberries  from our two little bushes, but threw away lots that had been attacked by some kind of worm. We thought we would get some currants from our black currant bushes, but the aphids got at them and the berries wound up on the ground. Doreen says she's going to get them next year if they dare show their greedy little faces!