Thirty-Six Years and a Hailstorm

It was a lovely day weather-wise to celebrate our 36th anniversary and Travis's 43rd birthday. Well, mostly lovely.

The day actually started at 3:30 a.m. with those awful coyote noises that sound like an injured animal and are meant to lure in their prey. I got up to feed the cats and then woke again around 5:15. Sheesh.

S made coffees for us to enjoy in bed while we perused our socials. With my second cup, I moved on to uploading photos and videos and finally publishing Sunday's blog. Meanwhile, S spent part of the morning chatting with the county about the proposed acreages planned next to us.

Next on my agenda was the workout I had been procrastinating. Although after carrying Renn around for the last couple of days, I felt like I had already put in a decent amount of exercise. S headed off in the Ranger to Matt's place to help solve a problem while I showered and then tossed Roo her hay bag. She has the fat pen cleaned right off.

Once S returned from his "job," we attempted to load Harley into the truck using the new stairs I had ordered. Unfortunately, she wasn't interested in cooperating. With Harley staying home, our lunch plans shifted a bit.

We headed to town, making several stops along the way. S dropped into Napa to replace some parts he had used, while I returned Amazon packages, picked up a library book, and dropped off mail parcels.

Dark clouds were building north of town and moved in surprisingly quickly. Just as we parked at the Greek restaurant for lunch, the wind hit. One look at the sky and we decided takeout might be the wiser choice. Then the hail started.

We found ourselves parked under a tree hoping to avoid any dents while watching the storm roll through. Across the street, a couple of large poplar branches snapped under the wind. Under the tree I also chatted with Mom who was on her way to Calgary to get her right hand carpal tunnel surgery done then head back to Oyen.

Eventually we decided to make a run for it, splashing through huge puddles as rain poured down faster than the drains could handle it. We swung by a recommended new Greek takeout spot, but the parking lot was packed and the weather was still miserable. Instead, S pulled into Edo and grabbed lunch.

By the time we headed back toward the ranch, the storm was already moving east and blue skies were appearing behind it. As we got closer to home, the highway was completely dry. All that worrying about the open windows had been for nothing. The open garage, however, was another story. The wind had blown things everywhere and scattered a few planters around off the deck for good measure.

view to the west

view to the east

Back at home it was sunny once again, although still windy as usual in our little wind tunnel.

We enjoyed our noodle bowls before settling into our respective chairs. I worked on today's blog while S scrolled through his phone. Since all plans of walking the dogs by the river or enjoying the deck had been interrupted by the storm, I pulled out Rummikub instead.

Three games later we had crowned a winner. Me.

As we headed back to town the west now looked dark

Since neither of us wanted to cook on our anniversary, we headed back to town for supper and decided to try the Greek restaurant opened by some longtime Hanna friends.

The meal was excellent. After finishing our first dessert, they surprised us with a second one complete with a little flame-thrower action. Then Archie, the chef, gave us a tour of the kitchen and even made us an all-meat pizza to take home and try. It has definitely been a pizza kind of week.

Back at the ranch we stretched out and got comfortable. S worked on his Running with the Bulls volunteer list while Shaina and I FaceTimed as she repotted root bound plants.

We wrapped up the evening with, you guessed it, more farming episodes. S was asleep within half an hour.

Thanks to everyone who called, texted, and sent anniversary wishes throughout the day!