Issys feeling worse than ever so she decides to spend the day resting up in her cosy isolation ward at Steve and LeeAnnes newly christened COVID hospital. Were still a bit curious as to where she might have caught the dreaded virus from. She blames the waitress from the restaurant we went to in our last night in Maui. She ordered a Corona, but when the waitress brought it she dropped the lemon on the table and then picked it up with her bare hands and shoved it back in the top of the bottle. Id always been told that the lemons were just supposed to keep the flies out, so maybe theyre not so good with viruses? Im thinking that she was infected a bit earlier than that, and Im putting my money on someone in the tour bus the day we went to Hana. Anyway, shes sick, and probably was when we first arrived in Canada. I hope that doesnt mean were here illegally and are currently on some sort of Immigration Department watch list. Maybe we really should be hiding out in the basement after all.
apparently a daily exercise at this time of the year to check on how the bulls are progressing with their harems. Steve had to bid for the bulls at an auction, so hes going to be more than a bit disappointed if he doesnt get his moneys worth. Their sole function in life is to get down and dirty with each and every one of the females in their particular paddocks, and hopefully achieve a 100% pregnancy hit rate. What a life, although that said one guy doesnt seem to be getting too much action right now; my reading of the message he‘s getting from his current love interest is something very much along the lines of not tonight dear. Im suspecting that none of the bulls were auditioned or tested, so Im not quite sure what Steve does if the cows just arent into them or they turn out to be duds - Viagra perhaps? I think I might be overthinking this.
We drive up to top of a hill where we get great views out over the surrounding countryside. Steve points out a series of large indentations in a circle around the hilltop, which he reckons
is where an Indian tribe pitched its tepees sometime during the years before European settlement. He says the site would have been easy to defend, which was apparently pretty important given that a lot of the tribes were constantly at war with each other. He says hes always been trying to find some more concrete evidence such as stone arrowheads, but hes never had any luck.
Steve points out some pipework in the paddocks which he says is the header of a natural gas well. Theres a lot going on under the ground here. He says that there are also a lot of deeper wells in the areas with nodding donkey type pumps which are used to extract oil. Water for the from a much shallower well in their front yard. I hope for everyones sake that no one ever gets any of the pipework connections mixed up.
Pioneer life out here clearly wasnt all beer and skittles. We stop at a roadside memorial to three men who died here back in 1907 when they got caught in a blizzard as they tried to drive cattle and horses across the prairie.
historic St Peters Lutheran Church in the hamlet of Scala (does it still qualify as a hamlet if theres only one building - in this case the church?). It was originally built by the Lutherans in 1911 at Wetaskiwin, more than 100 kms to the north west of here. That congregation declined, and in 1921 the church was dismantled, transported here piece by piece, and
Back at the ranch we get our usual rousing greeting from Steve and LeeAnnes Bernese Mountain dog, Neo. This adorable mutt has taken friendliness to a whole new level; he tried to jump into the car to greet us when we first arrived yesterday. Their house cats called Mr Anderson. Fans of The Matrix might spot a theme here.
