What's been going on

Okay, so I know I haven't been writing. It's been so busy I just haven't had time and frankly I'm losing my mojo for it.

I had planned to transplant the tomatoes today but didn't get to it as I am doing a favour for a friend which is taking up a whole lot of time over and above the norm, I think I'm going to call done on that one because it is very time consuming. She has a table at the local craft fair coming up and I offered to help her.

We are settling in pretty good in our new location. Nice, quiet town. Have made a lot of acquaintances and a couple of friends too.

The local gym is very close to home and they are currently renovating so waiting for that to reopen because -- Oh My God have a packed it on the last 2.5 years. I think we'll pick up a treadmill just in case they lock everyone down again this winter.

We have signed up for curling but haven't heard anything back as of yet. I know they just put ice in the skating rink so I assume it is the same for the curling rink, and hope we will hear something sooner than later. 

Brad's Mum is coming to visit next week so that will be a good opportunity to go the other direction from town (we've only been the one general direction) and see what's cooking out there. We've been told there is a lot to see... may be too cold, but we'll see what happens. Plenty of lakes around us and camping is a huge thing here too.

Quite likely over the winter, assuming things slow down - I'll likely post more regularly. Although, I've been told that winter is the busy season around here with all kinds of activities and events.

Pictures of the tomato transplant coming up.

Winter gardening in central Alberta?

I decided just to try to see if I could grow a couple of simple things over the winter. 

Just to see if I could.

We have our January starter racks and lights set up in the basement and so I decided to give it a go.

I made up 2 larger pots of soil and put them in the garage for now, then made up 8 potential starter plant pots... 4 Roma tomatoes and 4 Wonder bell pepper plants... and put them on a shelf with the growing lights and a heat pad. 

Entire setup

Day 1 

Oct 12, 2022

If the seeds crack, I will take periodic pictures of their progress. There is a small window across from this setup and with the lights.... maybe I can get them started. We will see. If I'm able to get 1 of each going I will thaw the pots holding in the garage and try to keep them going with a hope of getting some fresh veg over winter. I have about 10 pots of assorted herbs in the livingroom for the winter also.

The grow lights being on chains allows me to adjust the height of them as the plants (hopefully) get bigger.

 

Okay here's a rough update

In our travels lately, I saw this hummingbird flying in the sky.

Okay so we have moved to a 'modest' house in a 'modest' community as we were unable to find a suitable acreage in the time we had - still in central Alberta. Our lease on the acreage expired Sept 30th and we could not wait to get away from that property. The water was absolutely disgusting, the safety of the house was questionable and - lets just say, the landlady wasn't the warm fuzzy type. It was a risk, having rented it sight unseen (except for a short video conference) from our place in the Gulf Islands of BC but it was clear from day 1 that we wouldn't be staying past our lease.

Brad's hammock

Our new place allows Brad to FINALLY hang the hammock we bought about 5 years ago. In all the places we've been, there just wasn't anywhere he could hang it... except the campground but those trees were for paying guests and our spot didn't have 2 trees in it.

Yes FG, there is a garden area in the back also. All things being equal we will put in some raised beds to add more growing space.    

Once the move was completed, we were exhausted and needed a few days to relax. I can't relax at home, there's waaaay too much to do all the time. 

Also, I have a wonky elbow that I injured getting into our old truck last October that I was too 'busy' to let heal and so I am doing that now that the move is done (golfer's elbow AND bursitis). The shoulder on my other arm is also giving me grief, so I'm a hot mess currently.

Off we went to Canmore, AB for 4 days, 3 nights. Canmore is the new Banff, the amount of tourists is just crazy.  But it was still a relaxing few days. Having lived there for 3 years many years ago, we didn't do much of the typical touristy stuff.

Lake Louise

Our beloved Robbie

Returned to the scene of the crime, 14 years on.

Evidence of the crime itself.

My other 'good son'

We had barely got the silverware put away and my youngest son (of 2) messaged to ask if he could stay with us for a few weeks while he did a job local to us. He is a Radiographer, and takes Xray pictures of pipeline welds and the like... this is oil country here in Alberta, after all. So he will be here for a while (gone home to his wife and 3 kids in Saskatchewan for Thanksgiving this weekend, but will return on Monday).

So once again, I apologize for my long absences. It has been a crazy year with the animals on the acreage and the massive garden we planted. Then finding a place to move to and then rehoming the chickens and sending the rabbits to freezer camp. Getting the packing, cleaning and move done with a wonky arm, and then eventually 2 wonky arms... it has been super tiring. We are settled now and I hope to be posting more often... assuming my blog keeps existing... (also, some part of that doesn't expire until spring, so..... no idea).

So the new page SHOULD be: www.theroguelesstravelled.blogspot.com - - at least in theory.

This town has a lot of activities. We had a drive in movie night, ladybug release, rubber duck race... we are hoping to start curling, have already joined the card playing club, there is a gym very close to the house, and I've made a friend already. No Pickleball as yet but one of the locals does play and so we will try to get something going for the winter.

So far, so good!

 

Blog change possible

Heads up, 

I have just discovered that Squarespace has been charging me $40/month for this blog. I've no idea why...

Anyhoo, I have cancelled that subscription and have absolutely no idea what that means for the blog.

Hopefully it will continue operating and just revert to something else. I have a vague recollection of 'upgrading' it years ago and can't explain why I just discovered this now.

In any event, assuming it still works, I will carry on blogging shortly.

A lot going on here at the moment with the move, we took a little holiday to the mountains, etc.

Hope to give more details soon.

-Katie