Riders beat up the Bombers!

In the home opener of the Saskatchewan Roughrider season they beat up on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The game started off with Corey Holmes returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Despite a rain delay and a wet field the Riders were able to dominate the majority of the game leading to a final score of 42 to 15 for the Roughriders. Overall a great way for the Roughriders to start off the season and hopefully lead us to the Grey Cup!

Go Riders Go!

Some official coverage:

• TSN.ca
• CBC.ca
  

Saskatchewan Weather

Well I resisted as long as I could but I have finally broken down to talking about the weather. I can't help it. The weather here in Saskatchewan lately has been a little crazy. From down pours in parts of the province causing flooding, to hot days like yesterday where the temperature was above 30 Celsius, to today where it is cool and rainy again. Not that I mind the cooler weather today after working in the yard building a sand box, but it seems like the weather this year has been kinda wacky. Perhaps the funniest thing about this post, you simply won't understand unless you are from Saskatchewan. Talking about the weather here is an everyday occurrence and an important part of life for many here. Farmers rely on the weather to make a living and knowing what the weather is going to do is crucial for them in their planning and work. Of course I am not a farmer, but that is my understanding of it anyways. Well, I will end this post with a typical Saskatchewan question "What do you think of this weather eh?"

Saskatchewan Centennial Canoe Quest

To celebrate the centennial of Saskatchewan there are 31 teams that are going to canoe across the province. Teams come from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and from as far away as Scotland. The teams will start at Clearwater River on June 20th and end at Cumberland House on July 5th, 2005. They will be traveling in 25 foot voyageur canoes. Take a minute to read up on some of the teams and check the results page for up to the minute results thanks to GPS tracking. Some of my friends are on the Team Shared Paths team. They have their own website with photos and information about their team.

Good luck to all the teams in the Saskatchewan Centennial Canoe Quest!

Prairie Lily

I got an email the other day wondering why this site is called "Land of Living Skies" and the graphic I have on it is a flower? Well the short answer is, I have a flower as the graphic background for the site because it is a "Prairie Lily" the official flower of Saskatchewan. The flower was adopted as the official flower of Saskatchewan in 1941.

The Prairie Lily is also known as a Tiger Lily and the Western Red Lily. It grows wild in Saskatchewan, although I have only seen it growing wild north of Prince Albert. According to some reading I have done the flower used to grow wild over a great deal of the province but due to agriculture, over picking and urban development the Prairie Lily's population across Saskatchewan has been reduced. If you are out enjoying the beauty of Saskatchewan and you come across a Prairie Lily, remember not to pick it, dig it up or disturb it, as the flower is protected by law. Leave it to be enjoyed by others.

You Are From Saskatchewan When

This list was posted in the Saskatchewan: Land of Living Skies forum and I thought I would share it in my blog, because it just makes me laugh and I just needed to laugh today. If you would like to see the original post or comment on it visit the Saskatchewan: Land of Living Skies forum.

You Know You Are From Saskatchewan When

1. You only own three spices - salt, pepper and ketchup.


2. You design your Halloween costumes to fit over snowsuit.


3. The mosquitoes have landing lights.


4. You have more miles on your snowblower than your car.


5. You have 10 favorite recipes for moose meat.


6. You thought "grumpy old men" was a documentary.


7. Canadian Tire on any Saturday is busier than the toy stores at Christmas.


8. You live in a house that has no front steps, yet the door is one Meter
   above the ground.


9. You've taken your kids trick-or-treating in a blizzard.


10. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes get filled with
    snow.


11. You think everyone from the city has an accent.


12. You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and a flannel nightie with only 8
    buttons.


13. You owe more money on your snowmobile than your car.


14. The local paper covers national and international headlines on l/4 page,
    but requires 6 pages for sports.


15. At least twice a year, the kitchen doubles as a meat processing plant.


16. The most effective mosquito repellent is a shotgun.


17. Your snowblower gets stuck on the roof.


18. You think the start of moose season is a national holiday.


19. You head south to go to your cottage.


20. You frequently clean grease off your barbecue so the bears won't prowl
    on your deck.


21. You know which leaves make good toilet paper.


22. The mayor greets you on the street by your first name.


23. There is only one shopping plaza in town.


24. The municipality buys a zamboni before a bus.


25. The major parish fund-raiser isn't bingo - its sausage making.


26. You find -40c a might chilly.


27. The trunk of your car doubles as a deep freezer.


28. You attended a formal event in your best clothes, your finest jewellery
    and your sorrels.


29. You can play road hockey on skates.


30. You can tell the difference between a chipmunk and a squirrel from 300
    yards away.


31. Shovelling the driveway constitutes a great upper body workout.


32. You know the 4 seasons: Winter, Still Winter, Not Winter and Almost
    Winter.

Door to Door Fish Sales

I don't know if this happens in other parts of Saskatchewan, but I find it quite interesting. Several times a year I have a person come to my door wondering if I would be interested in purchasing some fresh frozen fish. This is perhaps not a very unusual occurrence if you live by the coast, or near a large body of water, but here where I live it is pretty much bald prairie. Bald prairie might be a little over stating, but there are certainly no large bodies of water near me and I have always found it quite humorous that I live in the prairie and I have a door to door fish salesman trying to sell me fish. I mean think about this a little. I am in the prairie and I have a door to door fish salesman coming to my door. There has to be a joke in there somewhere.

Just so you know, I actually bought once. The fish actually comes from up north by La Ronge and is really quite good. Gotta look out for bones when you eat it, but that comes with eating Northern Pike or Walleye fish I guess. So if you have a door to door salesman coming to your door don't be surprised about it. Anything can happen here in Saskatchewan.

Cool and Rainy

Well, just a short post about the day today. According to the news today it was cool and rainy across the province. It was certainly that way here in Rosthern today with it raining off and on all day. That means that I could not get out into the yard this evening to do some more transplanting of some trees and shrubs in the yard, but at least I don't have to worry about watering the new grass that I planted.
I have been thinking a lot about what it is like to live here in Saskatchewan and how to tell people what it is like through a blog. That lead me to thinking that there might be others out there in Saskatchewan that have unique stories about their part of the province. There is certainly a difference between living in southern Saskatchewan, central Saskatchewan and northern Saskatchewan. I would like to invite others from Saskatchewan to join me in telling what it is like to live and work in Saskatchewan. Leave a comment if you are interested in joining the Saskatchewan: Land of Living Skies blog as a blogger or drop an email to blogger@livingskies.info.