From BATUS to BATUK

A flurry of social activity this week has insured that Jim had a good send off to Kenya. On Wednesday the village was out in force for the annual Guy Fawkes bonfire and fireworks with chili and mulled wine on hand. The local fire brigade were very much in evidence (see photo) lest Ralston's one annual fire were to get out of hand!

Friday was the belated mess Halloween celebrations, the evening took on a Rocky Horror theme and we had cast members from a local production join us and perform a few songs from the show.

As with all fancy dress functions the British Army tackled the theme with a fever unmatched by any other profession. Photographs of the night have a strictly limited circulation, so I'm afraid all I can offer you is a photograph of me in a rather wonderful red fur coat I acquired temporarily as a result of a game involving trading the clothing we were wearing. Jim's bow tie which I traded has yet to find its way home!

Saturday daytime was the annual BFBS hockey tournament, an all day event during which the six Batus Hockey League teams and an amalgamated ladies Devils team play 15 minute games and compete for a cup.

Then we rounded the week off last night with a Murder Mystery Party. The game was "Nip Tuck & A Murder" and was based around the world of cosmetic surgery. Once again the local charity stores did us proud and everyone turned up in wonderful outfits including scrubs splattered with fake blood!

Then after a frantic few days and nights, Jim packed up his belongings and headed for Kenya this afternoon. He'll be spending 6 weeks at the British Army Training Unit Kenya and will hopefully return the week before Christmas.

To keep me out of mischief while he's away, he has bought me a new sewing machine, a rather fancy Pfaff Expression 3.0, you'll no doubt see a few of it's creations on this blog in the next few weeks.

On a final note, weather is still hovering around 10c every day and no sign of snow yet, long may it last! Being back on snow watch again reminded me of a great joke email I had last year which sums up our first winter in Canada, it follows below...

Aug. 12 - Moved to our new home in Canada. I am so excited. It's so beautiful here. The mountains are so majestic. Can hardly wait to see them with snow covering them.

Oct. 14 - Canada--it is the most beautiful place on earth. The leaves have turned all colors and shades of red and orange. Went for a ride through the beautiful countryside and saw some deer. They are so graceful. Certainly they are the most wonderful animals on earth. This must be paradise. I love it here!

Nov. 11 - Remembrance Day. Deer season starts soon. I can't imagine anyone wanting to kill such a gorgeous creature. Hope it snows soon. I love it here!

Dec. 2 - It snowed last night. Woke up to find everything blanketed with white. It looks like a postcard. We went outside and cleaned the snow off the steps and shoveled the driveway. We had a snowball fight (I won). When the snow plough came by we had to shovel the driveway again. What a beautiful place. I love Canada!

Dec. 12 - More snow last night. The snow plough did his trick again to the driveway. I love it here.

Dec. 19 - More snow last night. Couldn't get out of the driveway to get to work. It's beautiful here but I'm exhausted from shoveling. ****ing snow plough.

Dec. 22 - More of that white s**t fell last night. I've got blisters on my hands and a sore back from shoveling. I think the snow plough hides around the corner until I'm done shoveling the driveway.

Dec. 25 - Merry ****ing Christmas! More frigging snow. If I ever get my hands on the sonovabitch who drives the snow plough, I swear I'll kill the bastard. Don't know why they don't use more salt on the roads to melt the ****ing ice.

Dec. 27 - More white s**t last night. Been inside for three days now except for shoveling out the driveway after that snow plough goes through every time. Can't go anywhere, the car's stuck in a mountain of white s**t and it's so frigging cold. The weatherman says to expect another 10 inches of the stuff again tonight. Do you know how many shovels full of snow 10 inches is?

Dec. 28 - That ****ing weatherman was wrong. We got 34 inches of the stuff this time. At this rate it won't melt before summer. The snow plough got stuck up in the road and that bastard came to my door and asked to borrow my shovel. After I told him that I had already broken six shovels shoveling out all the snow he had pushed into my driveway, I damn near broke my last one over his ****ing head.

Jan. 4 - Finally got out of the house today. Went to the store to get food and on my way back a damned deer ran in front of the car. Did about $3,000 damage to the car. Those ****ing beasts should be killed. The bastards are everywhere. Wish the hunters had exterminated them all last November.

May 3 - Took the car to the garage in town. Would you believe the thing is rusted out from all that ****ing salt they put all over the roads.

May 10 - Moved to Florida. I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would ever want to live in such a God forsaken place as Canada!

Autumn's borrowed time

The unseasonably warm weather continued this week on the prairie - 1st November yesterday and it was 23c! Seasonal averages for this time of year are normally between -6c and +5c, so we very much have the feeling we are on borrowed time with the weather.

Halloween on Friday and the surprisingly warm weather meant a record turn out of kids, which caught many housholds on the hop! My small batch of homemade cakes (left) proved to be woeful inadequate and after answering the door to about 50 trick or treaters, we were out of cakes, sweets and chocolates and were forced to retire to the local pub to escape the crush!

On the subject of timely escapes, Jim has received confirmation that he is off to Kenya on detachment. Subject to flights, he should be leaving next Sunday (9th) and returning in the middle of December, leaving me to face the wintery onslaught (when it finally arrives) alone! We'll be giving him a good send off though because next Saturday we are hosting another Murder Mystery party.

Whilst Jim is away, I will try my best to ensure he keeps us all updated with photos and stories. I am curious to find out whether it is the exotic posting that it sounds or whether he'll be in the African outback with quite basic facilities!

Finally for today, a video for my niece and nephew. This is Macy and a local Border Terrier called Branston playing in our garden. As you can see Branston can run Macy ragged!

Pumpkin Pie Eating

There were some very Canadian Halloween celebrations on the breakfast show today. Jenny and I held a Pumpkin Pie eating competition and you can watch a video of it below.

Autumn into winter

As we approach the end of October, our Albertan autumn has been stuttering into a frozen winter. Temperatures continue to fluctuate wildly as though the two seasons are having a tug of war. It was -13c this morning, but +20c is forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday.

In Ralston Halloween is seen as the traditional seasonal watershed. In 2006 there was snow on the ground when the children went out trick or treating, and last year our first dump arrived not long into November.

As the 31st approaches, all around the village Halloween decorations have been appearing in gardens. Even the tedious task of clearing up the leaves has been livened up with these jolly bin bags which have popped up outside a few houses.

Of course, the best part about the Canadians love affair with Halloween is that it delays the arrival of Christmas stock in the stores. Until November there is an all out sales push for costumes, inflatable ghosts, pumpkins and ghoulish trinkets and we are spared being bombarded with Christmas songs for a little longer than we would in the UK!

Away from the festive preparations in the village I am continuing to make discoveries in Medicine Hat. Last weekend I went on a girlie shopping trip and at lunchtime I was introduced to the fantastic Damon Lane's Tea Room.

Tucked away on a side street in town and occupying what used to be a house, it is a little gem! Inside you can feast on a wonderful homemade lunch and behind the tea room is a maze of inter-connecting rooms which house the gift shop. Yet another great spot I've found for lunch which Jim will have to be introduced to!

On that subject I might be forced to have a few more girlie lunches in the next couple of months. Jim is on standby to be detached to the British Army Training Unit in Kenya. He is likely to be heading there in early November and returning for Christmas and we are anticipating no more than 7 days notice for his departure.

However an extended African winter holiday really does not compare to the six month detachment to Afghanistan that a lot of army wives are having to cope with at the moment, so I can't complain.

Audio from Spouses Trip

You've read the blog post and seen the photos, but I thought you'd also like to hear the report I put together for BFBS. Just click on play below...

15 hours on the prairie

Last night I was out on the exercise training area here at BATUS for the Spouses Prairie Trip. It was an evening devoid of glamour but rich in experience!

We left Ralston village at 10pm, weighed down with collapsible chairs, blankets, thermos flasks, sleeping bags and cameras. A coach took us 3km along the road to Range Control where we had a short prairie brief and then we were transferred into our extremely basic transport. Myself and the other 16 wives were to spend the next 15 hours being shuttled round the dirt tracks of the prairie in something called a Man SV.

Man SV's are those huge open backed trucks you often see transporting troops around in the UK. They have a row of rollercoaster-like plastic seats down the middle and no windows. Your only protection from the elements are the canvas sides. Although they no doubt have a very useful role in the army, they are cold and dusty and you get thrown around in the back of them like a sack of potatoes.

After a second briefing at Exercise Control and a fair bit of time just hanging around (a reoccurring theme of the night!) we were loaded back into the truck at 3am and driven to the area where the next assualt was due to take place. We spent 3 hours in that location, sitting on our garden chairs, wrapped in sleeping bags and with at least 5 layers of clothing on - it was extremely chilly! The forecast had been for lows of +1c, but I think it must have been below freezing for most of the night!

At 7am we moved with the exercise vehicles to a second location to watch another assualt and from there to our last stop, an appointment to view the largest, most expensive explosion on the prairie - The python rocket-propelled mine-clearing system. The python is launched by one of these and should have been a rather spectacular end to the night, if high winds hadn't scuppered any chance of launching it!

So 15 hours later, covered in dust, very tired and rather desperate to be reunited with a proper loo, the wives returned to the village. You can see some photos of our trip here.

There is also a short video of some of the night-time fighting. The big white blobs on the screen are illumes, flares sent up to light up a target.

Back to reality... for a day!

It's been a pretty busy weekend and its not over just yet (more on that in a moment). Yesterday I was up with the larks to catch a bus to Calgary for a shopping trip organised by the Canadian families resource centre. Everyone on the trip paid $5 for our 5 hour return journey and got to visit Ikea and the Chinook Mall.

Although Jim and I have done lots of weekend trips elsewhere, we've only actually visited Calgary 2 or 3 times and so yesterday provided a strange kind of confirmation that whilst we've been stuck out on the prairie, life has been carrying on as normal in the real world! It's amazing how life affirming a trip to Ikea can be!

We finally got back to Ralston at 9pm last night, so we were all pretty exhausted!

Tonight I'm off on the wives overnight prairie trip. We leave at 10pm and return at 11am tomorrow and we're spending the entire night outdoors watching the exercise, so I have been digging out snow boots and thermals. We are fortunate that it's only going to drop to +1c tonight. Jim has camped out (with a tent admittedly) at -20c! I'll report back tomorrow and tell you if we survive the night!