Thanksgiving 2013

Nancy, Paul and Dylan joined us for the weekend. While the boys cut and split firewood, Nancy and I cooked up a storm. I saw Ree Drummond aka The Pioneer Woman brine a turkey, so we did the same and @&$! me was it good!!!

We also rocked a baked ham with Sailor Jerry rum and a myriad of delicious side dishes.

Sunday we went on a side by side adventure to Big Lake, Marguerite Lake, Indian Hill and Jackson Lake, then home to harvest and split some firewood for Paul and Nancy to take back to the city. Then we ate some more... No one ever starved to death at our place, except maybe a vegetarian.

 

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Justin Graduates from Camp Wainwright

On Friday May 3, class 0138 graduated from their 4 month infantry training program. Next stop is Edmonton Garrison where they take up their place in Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry 3rd Battalion.

Blaine and I drove up with Carol and Ted to watch the ceremony. After the ceremony the boys (there were no girls in his class) put on a display of close quarters combat. Next we moved to the Junior Ranks Mess for a reception including a short movie of course highlights.

Wainwright doesn't suffer from an over abundance of fine dining establishments so we decided to stay in for supper on Friday night and Carol and Ted hosted a beer and pizza party in their room. The leftover pizza made a great breakfast in the truck as we make our way across the endless flatness that is Eastern Alberta.

Congratulations Justin!

Sugar Shack Update

On Friday we stopped for a late lunch at the Sugar Shack in 70 Mile House. We shared a Montreal Smoked Meat Poutine which was delicious. I didn't take photos because we ate most of it straight off without stopping for breath so I will do my best to describe the dish in all it's awesomeness.

The fries were thick hand cut ones with the skins still on and cooked to crispy perfection. The meat was super tender and incredibly flavourful (they also do Smoked Meat sandwiches which I think will be our next try). The cheese curds were proper stringy ones and the gravy was "off the hook" crazy tasty with green peppercorns and other delicious, complex flavours. Seriously it is like something you would expect to get on your steak at a fancy restaurant.

The owners are super friendly and welcoming so do yourself a huge favour and stop there next time you are in the Cariboo.

Check out their website
http://www.thesugarshack.sfobc.com/

And "like" them on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sugar-Shack/639159372766434

Success!

Evidently Johnny tried to chew his way through the prison but they didn't get out. Yay!

Puppy prison v4

Hopefully they will both be inside when I come home on Thursday

Naughty Dogs

Yesterday afternoon we put the dogs outside to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air while we got on with our chores. Just before 5pm I went out to do the weekly hot tub maintenance and called the dogs to come home. After a minute or so I heard the distant sound of Johnny barking. Movement on the opposite, northern, shore of the lake caught my eye so I grabbed the binoculars and quickly confirmed that Johnny and Sage were on one of the docks over at the cabins. Presumably the afternoon sunshine had melted the ice against the north shore, stranding them on the far side.

Our house is about 2/3 of the way along the lake on the south side. The east end of the lake is a privately owned ranch. Blaine went into rescue mode and set off in the the side by side back out the road to the 11 km marker, then onto the trails through the forest to get around the west end of the lake and then along behind the north side. The trails are just ATV/snowmobile trails, unmaintained, narrow, winding etc. Blaine struggled through deep snow and fallen trees along the little used trail. After an hour he reached the dogs who were beside themselves with happiness at being rescued.

One of the trail sections was particularly bad with lots of snow and trees down across the path. Blaine was able to make it through as he was travelling downhill, but he knew he wouldn't be able to make it back up that way. There is a road into the cabins that connects to the Beaver Valley Road which connects McLease Lake to Big Lake, Blaine took that road east with the intention of cutting down past Jackson's Hole. Unfortunately the Jackson's Hole road was impassible so he was forced to go all the way to Big Lake and back along the trail by Marguerite Lake. He got home at 7:30pm freezing cold but with two very happy, hungry puppies.

Today I locked them on the deck. When we came home from work they were waiting at the top of the road. We put them back on the deck and put their food on the driveway to force them to reveal the secret of the escape. Johnny did a series of wiggles to get his head, shoulders, then hips through the gap between the railings. Sage eventually and reluctantly jumped over the fence. Blaine spent the evening barricading the areas that Johnny got through, as for Sage we assume/hope that she will stay put so long as Johnny is contained.

Fingers crossed it works for tomorrow!

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The Sugar Shack at 70 Mile House

Wow! Having driven passed it many times I finally insisted that we stop at the Sugar Shack in 70 Mile House. So very glad we did. Blaine and I were both still full from our crappy Tim Hortons breakfast so we didn't sample the poutine but we for sure will next time. The fries are hand cut and the meat is smoked right there in the yard. $12.50 would have got us a huge portion of proper québécois poutine topped with either pulled pork or Montreal smoked meat. Instead we opted for coffee and beaver tails. Unable to pick between Maple Butter and Cinnamon Sugar we got one of each. The cinnamon one was finished with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice which sent it over the top and made it the winner for me, but the maple butter was awesome too. Double shot white americano to keep me awake and all is good. Definitely making this a regular stop on highway 97 from now on.


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