Visiting her four daughters and their families is always a happy time for Adgerine McNutt. She was away for three weeks splitting the time between Patti (Dan) Salisbury on the farm at Willow Brook and Verena (Jason) Popowich at York Lake, both places near Yorkton. She made it back May 21.
The Spring Fling Sale at the Mayfair Hall this past Saturday was well attended, as the 19 vendors were kept busy selling their items. The tasty English muffin breakfast was cooked and served by Martin, Teressa and Laura Toews. I know Mayfair’s Save a Third World Child Organization did very well at our table, thus raising more money for the less fortunate. The date for the next sale is Saturday, Sept. 17.
Connie (Doug) Giesbrecht, who now resides in Edmonton, was one of the vendors at Mayfair’s sale. She wrote a book of poems of Canadian prairie way of life titled Poetic Prairies featuring the photography of Ryan Wunsch and Daniela Sacha. This book is an absolute keepsake for $20. For more information, email [email protected]. Connie mentioned she and Doug have adjusted nicely to big city living and they get to spend quality time with their nieces and nephews. Now and again coming back to spend a few days at their rural yard near Mayfair is a real treat, especially seeing friends and neighbours. Connie was a councillor for the RM of Meeting Lake for a few years a long time ago.
Julie (Jack) Scott brought her mother-in-law to Mayfair on Saturday to browse the vendors’ items and have breakfast. The Scotts reside at Cape Breton, N.S. where all of the orchards are in full bloom this time of the year.
Fairy garden creations seem to be a popular craft. Meaghen Day, fiancé to Dustin Buziak of Whitkow, creates these fairy garden items and thoroughly enjoys crafting them. She was also sitting with her gorgeous items in Mayfair this past Saturday.
Faye Liebaert, amongst other neighbours, have seen bears in the vicinity, but Faye had one in her yard a couple hundred feet from the house. Someone else spotted a mother bear with three cubs at another location. With all the forest fires in northern Saskatchewan many of them have been forced to move farther south. Usually, if you do not bother them, they will wander away.
This is a bizarre true story from a neighbour. She showed me a photo of a snake her oldest granddaughter was holding. The grandmother was doing her business on the toilet when she noticed a movement in the nearby bathtub and, lord behold, it was a snake about three feet long slithering around. The granddaughter happened to be at her place to bravely remove the critter from the bathtub. Where did it come from? Perhaps up from the drain in the tub. No one really knows, but this is a reptile that is uncommon in an inhabited house.
Friends to many area residents, Evelyn and Roger Clavelle, have just returned from visiting relatives in Quebec for 10 days. They reside between Hafford and Blaine Lake and Evelyn was anxious to return home to plant her large garden. If you ever have a question about a plant, Evelyn, the knowledgeable person in this field, could easily help you.
Daniel, Jenny Konopelski and three children have moved from southern Alberta to operate the farm Daniel grew up on. He has finished seeding two weeks ago with cousin David. They are temporarily living in Radisson for four months before relocating to the farm house. The twin boys are registered at Maymont School in the kindergarten class with my oldest grandson Parker.
As I am writing this, we are receiving “liquid gold,” the much needed precipitation that everyone desperately hoped for. Approximately three-quarters of an inch was recorded in our yard, but it was varied throughout the area, as Mayfair received much more. The dark, fast moving mysterious clouds keep hanging low in the sky, so perhaps another downpour would be greatly appreciated.
Everyone is kept busy with the extra outside chores that spring brings — pulling those nasty weeds, rototilling, fertilizing lawns, seeding gardens and transplanting bedding plants. The nurseries are buzzing this time of the year and there seems to always be new varieties of plants that people love to purchase. Happy gardening. It has been reported that “playing” in the dirt is good for a person.
It seems the magpies are a good alarm clock. I do like birds, but not magpies, crows and ravens, which we abundantly have. Magpies are known to eat other birds’ nestlings and eggs. Think of those poor, helpless, little songbirds magpies destroy. These predators are part of the natural ecosystem, so we basically have no control of their invasion. I read that West Nile virus killed a few of these hardy squawking birds and also the arrival of the raven to the prairies are keeping their numbers down somewhat. I don’t believe it is happening in our shelterbelt, it seems to be the opposite. How come visitors from other countries are fascinated by these creatures and often remark on their beauty? Magpies and crows are apparently the most intelligent birds and can learn many tricks if trained. This still does not change my opinion on them. Squawk, squawk, squawk!
