Autumn is upon us. On our farm, our busy work crew have been combining peas and swathing other crops. The crops look reasonably good, but things can change in a heartbeat. Our farmer son, who experienced a terrible quad accident in June will hardly be able to enjoy the hustle and bustle of a fast-paced harvest, but 2021 will come quickly and by then he'll be more active.
Condolences to the Esquirol and Blais families from Meota and Edam, on the death of Stephanie (Esquirol) Blais. Our son Curtis and Stephanie were in the same grade at John Paul II Collegiate in North Battleford. My son and Curtis Blais were good friends. Hubert Esquirol, has gone through a lot from when his daughter was killed with my nephew approximately 29 years ago by an impaired driver. Then his wife passed away 17 years later. Hubert comes to our farm about four times a year to purchase bison from my husband, sister-in-law and myself. Stephanie died due to a bear attack in northern Saskatchewan.
Former owner of Whitkow Hotel and now a resident of Ruth Whyte Manor, North Battleford has turned 92 years old. Belated birthday wishes to Ann Ewanchuk, who ran the hotel for four years after the passing of her husband Uhan. Together they ran this business for 32 years. She was the oldest guest at the 50th wedding anniversary of their son Ramon and Elizabeth Ewanchuk of Redfield on Saturday, Aug. 15. The date matched that of their marriage at Whitkow Ukrainian Orthodox Church. All of the 30 some guests social-distanced as the weather co-operated for the outdoor celebration. Elizabeth said the grandchildren were playing volleyball in the late hours of the night with outdoor lighting. Their three children reside in St. Walburg and the Battlefords and one married grandson lives in Brandon, Man. Another out-of-town guest was Zen Nykiforu, of Edmonton, a cousin.
The fall craft fair has been cancelled in Mayfair. We would like the Christmas one to happen but with phase two of this virus that is supposed to surface shortly, who knows? I will keep everyone posted, as the large market is a crowd pleaser. It certainly brings flocks of people to our small hamlet.
Dora Brown at 306-246-4848 still has some garden produce on offer from her huge garden. Anyone looking for fresh vegetables can give Dora a shout and she will be glad to tell what she has left.
There is a public annual meeting for the organized hamlet of Mayfair Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 4:30 p.m. at the community hall.
The RM of Meeting Lake will hold a council meeting Thursday, Sept. 10 at the Mayfair Community Hall. Taxpayers who want to attend to express concerns can call the administrator at 306-246-4228 to be added to the agenda. The office hours are 9 am. to 4 p.m. Monday to thursday.
My family hasn't experienced a get together during the summer for the past 24 years, as oldest son Curtis was always employed at remote Scott Lake even during his university breaks. Since COVID-19 shut down basically everything, his job was obsolete for 2020. Many American fishers were not to happy having to stay at home. Many camps amongst other businesses took gigantic losses as there was no revenue. We got togehter at my cabin at Chitek Lake and on Saturday I rented a large pontoon boat for a day's excitement on the water. Unfortunately the wind did not co-operate for the last couple hours and everyone was soaked before returning to shore.
We shared a turkey supper and my four kids, four grandchildren and husband thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
We've had visits from an overly friendly fox that is difficult to shoo away. My neighbour at the lake has a six-month-old puppy that looks like a fox. Sunday morning it got loose and ran into my cabin and it was a task to shoo him out. The fun was a family member thought I had let the fox inside for a joke. My kitten is not accustomed to dogs, so ran and hid for two hours. My daughter's beagle, the neighbour's dog, wild fox and kitten tried to social distance. Chaotic confusion at its best. It was a fun weekend.
Sunday morning we discovered there was no cell service because of a SaskTel building fire at Spiritwood. The blackout affected a wide area. Service was restored Wednesday.
Gardeners have had a decent crop and sunflowers have reached eight feet with all the moisture we received. Be a sunflower. On the darkest days, stand tall and find the sunshine.
