Saskatchewan

My last night in Alberta, Laura and I went to Whyte Ave in Edmonton, which is a street lined with different shops. Most were closed by the time we finished dinner, but we had delicious drinks and Mexican food at Hoolio's Burrio. They had this brilliant idea to put a beer upside down in a margarita, which Laura had.

Matching dresses from West Ed. Mall

Saskatoon - Fruition Orchards

Wednesday I left for Saskatoon when Laura went to work, so it was a nice early 8am start. I felt a lot less rushed and stressed than my previous drive and stopped in Lloydminster, which is on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan for about an hour, and then again when I got to Saskatoon. The farm that I am staying at is just off a gravel road about halfway between Saskatoon and a smaller town called Aberdeen. When you're first driving up to the farm you can just see the steeple of the church, which is the house, and it looks almost like a castle hidden among trees.

The story is the foundation of the church was rotting so the church sold the land to a developer who didn't want the church, and he sold it to the Jorgenson family. The inside has been repainted with a kitchen put in where the sunday school room was, and then the downstairs has all the bedrooms (and air-conditioning which I'm pretty thankful for since it's been at least 30 everyday!).



The lamby trio

Keith and Carmen have three young, energetic kids between three and seven: Francis, Lily and little Parker. They are adorable, and always happy to jump on the trampoline or play many, many rounds of the Candy Land boardgame. The first night I arrived they showed me the lamby trio, as well as their four 6-week old puppies. They also have a foster son named Calvin and there is another wwoofer from England named Nathan. Nathan went to a music festival for the weekend and was cutting off his long hair (probably to impress the ladies:) and we all took a turn trimming his hair. It actually turned out alright...

Thursday I spent most of the day chasing after the kids. I was definitely tired by the end! I also jarred a bunch of honey from the farm's bees and we made sour cherry juice. Friday I met my cousin Chris and his wife Danine in Saskatoon for coffee before they headed out to BC to visit her family and my grandparents, and then had the day off to explore the city. It's actually pretty nice, and large. I walked along the river, toured the Mendel Art Gallery, and walked around the huge University of Saskatchewan.

I also went and got my oil light checked out at Air-Cooled Classics because it had been blinking on and off (which turned out to be just a loose wire that the mechanic fixed no charge yay!) and it was literally the Saskatchewan Mecca of vws! There were at least four vw camper vans like mine, but in amazing condition, as well as some older ones.

Air-Cooled Classics




I tried to go to sleep early last night (unsuccessfully) and got up at 6 this morning so Keith and I could drive into town and get everything set-up and ready for the Farmer's Market. The farm owns a non-profit bakery which gives troubled youth work experience and Carmen bakes numerous varieties of bread (red fife, marble rye, carrot and celery, etc.) and rolls and sweets for the market there as well. They also sell eggs, deer meat, and jam (of course) at the market. It was a long day with the market going from 8-2, but really fun to be a part of. I think I might go to the market by myself tomorrow, (they run on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays) which is a slower day, and I am much more confident in what everything costs as well as what each bread is. As well as fun facts, like the red fife bread is a heritage grain that has been grown for well over 100 years and is good for people with gluten allergies. After a short nap we made sushi for dinner tonight, which was delicious!



University Bridge, Saskatchewan River