And Away We Go! - Again

So, today was auspicious for a number of reasons. I'll save the first for last so here's how the rest of the day went. Heading east from Regina, I was happy to see so many Eaton's Catalogue houses that still dot the landscape and mark the start for many homesteaders. For those of you who aren't familiar with these little beauties the story goes like this: A farmer would look through the Catalogue and select the model he wanted. It would be shipped in pieces by train to the nearest station and then the farmer and his neighbours would take their wagons to town to pick up the bits and pieces that make up the home. Several hard day's work would have the home built and ready for the family to move into.

I was on divided highway right from Saskatoon to here in Portage la Prairie. New province and a new time zone – wahoooooo! The traffic was light and so it was easy to make reasonable time. Southern Saskatchewan is green and lush and I had a chance to see some major flooding near Souris. In one place a major paved road just disappeared into the river. Considering the amount of water around, I saw surprisingly few ducks and geese.

Nosey

Now to the beginning of the day. I was reasonably organized and have great assistance in loading everything from Megan and Bailey so I figured I'd be up at the crack of dawn and gone by 7 am. I was doing well and had just one little chore to do before locking the door and hitting the road – packing the kittys from the front door and into the motor home. Two minutes you say? I sat down in a chair and covered my lap with a towel to neatly wrap each cat for the 10' trip. I wisely sprinkled catnip on the towel and coaxed Digit with a sweet sing-songy voice. As she can't resist the catnip, she hopped up and I slowly wrapped the towel around her. As she realized what was happening, she growled making Nosey think she was attacking me so he pounced up spit and claws to save me. Digit squealed and got away leaving me with an arm that looked like a candy cane. She drove on up the stairs and plowed under the bed. Great! Just Great!

OK, I'll deal with Nosey first! His girth prevents him from moving too fast, so I scooped him up in the towel and beelined for the door.and as I was going down the stairs, I felt a dampness all down my left side – right! - he peed on me. But at least he was in the motor home.

Digit

Now for Digit. She was under the bed, so I tried coaxing her out with catnip (she wasn't falling for that one again) I tried tuna, I tried a bowl of milk and finally after two hours of trying every thing I could think of – I closed the door, upended the box spring and mattress and threw my bedspread over her – gathering it up like a Santa sack and bustled her out – Not my biggest fan right now. The time – 9:55 am and we were finally on the road – Nosey under the bed and Digit under the covers.

By the way, Judy, they have crows here in Manitoba – only here they are called mosquitoes.

Tomorrow will be another long day with a new province and then end of my lovely divided highway, so I'm hitting the hay! Good Night you kings of New England – you princes of Maine!