June 6^th, 2004:

Nice sunrise this morning, but it clouded over and was raining lightly by eight o’clock. A nice, gentle rain, too, with enough wind that the plants under the eaves got watered. There was about a third of an inch. We hear of an over-abundance of rainfall in the south-east, but it would take an awful lot before we would holler “quit”!

We went to the Beach Café for their supper smorg; it was cloudy and spitting a bit so we took the car; then the sun came out while we were eating, and when we left it was overcast again. After a very nice supper we didn’t feel like walking anyway.

There was a family of young geese on the beach the other day - the first goslings I have seen, though others have mentioned them for the past week. Cute, but not very sanitary. They will be hauled away early in July and won’t be back until fall, but in the meantime people using the beach have to watch where they step, and what their kids are playing with. Semi-domesticated Canada geese are becoming more and more of a problem in populated areas; sooner or later something drastic will have to be done to control them and the longer it is delayed, the bigger the problem will be. Merv Miller said they are even a nuisance in England - the natives there tried to talk him into bringing them back to Canada!

We had a real treat last Monday - we went to Prince Albert and took in the Prince Albert Mens’ Choir Concert, and it was superb! They have some wonderful voices, and professional leadership. Another “must” on our list!

Cleaning up our yard the other day, we came upon a bunch of morels, which, to the uninformed, are considered the champagne of mushrooms. Never have we seen them in our yard before! I am not much of a mushroom enthusiast, but Doreen fried these up for supper, and I am converted!

We went to Melfort Friday, for the Relay for Life. Doreen walked as a survivor; I mostly ate and took a few pictures. On the way up, we ran into and out of a dozen showers, but once we got there the weather was perfect.

Coming home, we saw three elk scattered in about four miles at the north end of the Park. At least one had a small set of antlers, though the animal was big. It was getting dark so the others could have been bulls, too. The cows are likely back in the bush looking after their babies.

Gwynn Hirtle has a new baby buffalo! No, she hasn’t got a herd - someone gave it to her for her petting zoo. She also has a calf, a llama, three miniature horses (at least), a donkey, some miniature goats, khatadin sheep, dogs, cats and chickens. All are used to being handled, and seem to like attention. The buffalo calf is being bottle fed - it almost ate my hand! Hirtle’s place is that real neat yard less than a mile west of Highway #38 on #349 - there is a “petting zoo” sign on the gate. Take the kids there - they’ll have a ball!

We went to Brian and Marg Shuya’s place yesterday - they have had an indigo bunting visiting their feeder, and it was kind enough to visit while we were there. Beautiful bird! Bright blue in the sunlight with some gray wing patches. I took a few pictures through the glass, which doesn’t usually produce a very good picture, but it’s good enough for identification purposes. Our bird book says the northern end of its range is southern Manitoba, but it also says its range is expanding west. Hope it stays around!

The saskatoons and pincherries are in full bloom, and the chokecherries will be shortly. I notice some buds on our crabapple tree, so it will be blooming in a few days. Doreen says she can’t remember seeing this many blossoms on the pincherries, which are very leggy. Maybe a good crop this year? We still have lots of frozen saskatoon berries, and lots of chokecherry syrup & jelly, but could use some more pincherries.

Jim and Darin have been hard at work at the Park Store, building a Mini-Golf. They have the perimeter fence done and the entry gate (crowned with a regal moose!) but the course itself isn’t finished. Watch for further reports!