Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Working in Northern Alberta/BC

Well here I am typing this from my hotel room, waiting for my microwave dinner to finish heating up and I thought I'd share some pictures of what I've been up to.

First off, some pictures of my garden before I left. I can't wait to get home and finish planting!
I love my tulips and I can't believe how much they've multiplied in just a year!


This one it my favorite...


Now for some work pictures.

Here's my work truck for the week, a shiny new dodge! Although, I think it might be related to "Herbie" because it keeps trying to lock me out!


And the exciting point of my day was seeing these two across the field from us!

Yup that's a great big mama bear and her cub!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

And I think it's time to build another saddle rack or two...

Yes, I've acquired another sidesaddle! It was too neat to pass up! It was made by the Great West Saddlery Co. in Calgary in 1902 or 1903 back before Alberta was a province. It's marked "Calgary, North West Territories".

How neat is that? What a piece of history and it feels really special that I was able to bring it "home". A lady in Texas had the saddle for years. If only these old saddles could talk, the stories they'd be able to tell. To go from Calgary to Texas back when this saddle was made, must have been quite the journey.

Considering it's age, the saddle is in fabulous condition. There are a few tears on the upright pommel (which you can see I covered with a brown sock to protect it a bit) and a little bit of surface cracking but it is in rideable condition.