June 7, 2009:
I
am pretty well jaded with garage sales, but we did run into a good one on
Thursday. Not that there was anything for me to buy, but the first people
I ran into were Wilf and Grace Walsh, in conversation with the man running
the sale. They introduced me to him - his name was Stahl and I’m sorry I
didn’t get his first name. Originally from Kelvington, he now lives in
Langham and was helping his daughter with the sale. I’m sorry I didn’t
get her name, either. I also met Stahl’s wife, who was Phil
Patenaude’s daughter. All are faithful followers of this column, which
always warms the cockles of my heart. (Okay, I don’t know what cockles
are, either – it’s just a figure of speech, okay?)
Stahl’s
mother was a Knudson, a sister to Hardy Knudson who did a lot of carpenter
work around Greenwater – in fact, I believe he built our, Davidson’s,
and Floyd Thompson’s cottages. All were built about the same time, and
likely using the same floor plan. He also did a lot of work on the old
Park store and café. We used to have a photo of the store and café with
a man walking past in front of it – that man was Hardy Knudson. I
believe that photo is presently somewhere in the Park office, about 16 x
20, on a masonite backing. It is in the Greenwater history book, Ripples
to Waves, too.
Stahl’s
father did a lot of work with Hardy, so likely had a hand in the cottage
building and the work on the Park store. I get talking so fast I forget to
ask the important questions; an hour later I’m kicking myself and
wondering “Why didn’t I get their names?”
I
guess I had better send this out Saturday night. On Sunday, we are going
to Tisdale to attend our great-grandson’s birthday party.
Logan
will be one year old. We may go down to Greenwater for a day or two with
the motor home, then to Nipawin for an outing with the Good Sams from all
over. My sister, Cathy, is going to be there too, so will have a chance to
visit with her and Freckles.
Driving
around on Saturday, we realized it was cold and miserable but suddenly it
looked like snowflakes flying around. Surely not! Snow in
Saskatchewan
in June? On closer inspection, though, it turned out to be fluff from some
kind of tree. Lots of them are in full blossom now.
We
have been over to the motor home so often lately that they are apt to
charge us undue wear and tear on their electric gate. Something is haywire
with the coach electrical system – the batteries will go flat overnight,
which means that in between campsites where we can plug in, we have no
power. I have been messing around trying different fuses and doing a
little re-wiring, but nothing seems to work. I can kind of understand an
old-fashioned fuse panel where the juice goes in the top, through the
fuses, and into the different applications, but in the motor home, they
just disappear into a hole in the floor or wall. Also, there is a very
expensive brand new converter that I had installed last fall, and it is a
total mystery to me. I will just hope that everything works when we are
plugged in to 120 volts, and take it to the repairman when we get back
from Nipawin.
At
the invitation of James Davis, a
Saskatoon
photographer we met at a home show, we attended a photography and art show
and sale. There were three photographers there, and one girl also did
painting; some of her work combined painting and photography to good
effect. It was a very good show, and I was able to spend quite a bit of
time chatting with Jim and the other photographers. They had had
experience photographing weddings and portraits, too, so we had lots of
anecdotes to swap. Jim does beautiful work, but he also has the energy to
display and market it, something I have always lacked. He sells framed and
unframed enlargements, but also greeting cards and postcards graced with
his photos.