A Man In The House ....

Chris had 31/2 days off at the end of last week (the first time since Calgary) so again we set out to to do as much as possible, well for as long as Chris could stay awake. Finally Chris has managed to have a game of golf with his new clubs and shoes which he bought in Dec 08 and has been desperate to play with - he needs to make the most of it before the snow arrives! So Wed afternoon he played Cotton Wood Coulee Golf Club in Med Hat with 3 others in glorious sunshine. He came home a happy boy as apparently his clubs were awesome.

Making the most of Chris being home I went into Med Hat with Maryanne, Ophelia (Maryanne's little girl) and Clare M http://www.claremansell.blogspot.com/ to have lunch at a lovely coffee shop called Zucchini Blossom - more like a small mediterranean coffee shop rather than a brash fast food coffee shop in Canada. So we had a good girlie lunch and then the girls kindly showed me two very interesting shops in Med Hat. One called The Post which is all the charity shops you can imagine in a town under one roof - you could find everything in there, there is even a 'vintage' section and wedding dresses - the place to go for fancy dress. That evening we invited 3 of the guys that Chris works with along with their wives & children round for a bbq. By which time the weather had changed from sun in the morning to a day of black clouds and rain - however we were determined to go ahead - even if we had to all sit huddled under the gazebo in the rain. Luckily by 6pm it had settled down and was ok - could have been a little warmer but with the help of Mark's firepit we all managed to stay outside to just gone midnight.

After a slightly slower start on Friday morning we decided to set off to Elkwater Interprovincial Park for the day. Elkwater is where Tegan spent 2 nights with the Guides camping so she was eager to show Chris what was there. Elkwater is the highest point in Canada between the Rocky Mountains & Labrador (maximum elevation - 1466 metres above sea level); the Cypress Hills are unique in that they were not glaciated during the last ice age; the park's montane environment is an oasis of mixed & lodgepole pine forests in the midst of the Canadian prairies; the park features a wealth of plant & animal life, including 14 orchid species. We had a great day ambling along the shore line watching the speed boats zoom round the lake. So with running races between us all, playing in the parks and a mini golf tournament (which I might add I won) it was a lovely day out with a great change of scenery.

Saturday was a lazy day in Ralston, Fraser went to his first birthday party in the village for a little boy called Ben who was 4 years old. So whilst I went with Fraser, Chris and Tegan took Jinx for a walk on the prairie. That was then the end of having a man in the house .... 5.00am Sunday morning Chris was back out on the prairie.

Back to the topic of weather - it is mad here. It should be in the high 30s and one minute it is gorgeous sunshine then the sky goes black and the lightening and thunder starts and then lashings of rain. Our gazebo has had such a battering by the wind one of the metal struts has been snapped in half - so a repair job is now in order.

The gopher population is doing well this week as so far the gophers are winning. Jinx does however have her eye on the rabbits that keep going into next doors garden!