2021 season opener

May Long weekend is the official start to camping season in Alberta. Of course it means you can get sunshine, rain, wind or snow...or all of the above. We had snow earlier in the week so we felt relatively confident it wasn't going to snow this weekend. We did get the rest - sun, cloud, rain and wind. 

Earlier in the week in the field by our house

We have been out to the trailer a couple times already. Shadybrook opened April 30 but the water wasn't on and we had the mouse issue to deal with. Late last season and through the winter we had mice getting in the trailer. Before we stayed over night this year we needed to try and fix the problem and give the trailer a good cleaning. Hopefully the problem is fixed...I do know the trailer is clean.

Tim showing James where to stuff steel wool and foam spray.

Over the years there have been many issues with trees falling at Shadybrook. Sometimes they fall on trailers and for us, they fall on our gazebos. We’ve had two crushed gazebos. This winter, the Shadybrook team cleared out a bunch of trees and made a wide walking path where we used to have a forest. We have mixed feelings about this. It might be safer but we miss our forest.

The new paths

The back of our trailer is missing the forest

The squirrels may also miss the forest. Last weekend we noticed a squirrel in our shed. We thought we left the door open and the squirrel went in out of curiosity.

We were wrong. While cleaning outside the trailer James noticed the squirrel go through a small crack in the shed door. He got Ms. Squirrel out of the shed and went to look inside. After some investigation he discovered her nest and from the other side of the shed she was loudly giving him a piece of her mind. We saw movement in the nest so we backed away and let mama squirrel take care of the situation. We watched her run back in the shed and carry her babies out in her mouth one at a time to relocate them in a safer space. The safer space happened to be the bumper of our neighbours trailer. It was fascinating to watch.

The squirming nest!

The good news this year - the bathrooms are open. And they are very clean. Great job Shadybrook!

It’s the May long weekend and Seba Beach is hopping. The market was very busy. It has moved back to the original location now that the new pavilion is finished. The new pavilion is great.

The line to get in to the market

Sunday morning we went on a road trip to Red Deer. The drive down from Seba Beach was really nice. We decided we will go back to Rimbey one weekend when the covid restrictions are eased. We drove through town and noticed a brewery, ice cream shop, quilt shop and coffee shop. Definitely worth checking out!

We went to Red Deer for a socially distanced picnic in the park with Alana, Erin, Connor and Kate. It was so nice to see them. Connor is turning 13 this week so there will be two teenagers in their family.

Back at the trailer we had a fire and visited with Val. 

My aunt gifted me some fun flamingo lights!

Monday morning it started raining pretty hard so we packed up and headed home.

Oh, in case you are wondering, Ned and Fred continue to guard the wood pile.