The Spill Gates Adventure

I took the boys home to my parents last weekend and it was so balmy we set out on our usual adventure to the Pot Hole Creek. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this little bit of tradition, there is a little creek just down from my parent's house that was once the main water source for many of the farmers and early settlers of Magrath. Back in the 1890's they dug a canal off-shooting from the creek and made a dam--fondly known as the spill gates. In my mother's time there was a wonderful swimming hole, in my day, the Fish Pond was tried at least once, just for the experience. Now, no one in their right mind even wades into the shallows, but the path that was once a little trail and a dangerous, slightly hair-raising expedition (there was no way to get up to the top unless you scaled the wall) has been made into a shale walking path and stairs now take you safely to the top of the old dam.I hope you enjoy the outing as much as we did! The Pot Hole was partially frozen, and just perfect for little boys to puddle in!


This is an old tree that has been played in by hundreds of children over the years. I remember playing there with my friend, Shea, for hours!
This is an old barbed-wire fence that is now only rotted posts among the cat-tails.

This is the water below the gates-- the drifted snow was so cool! There has been a lot of wind in January and the drifts are amazing.

Here is the tree we call Grandmother Willow. It's an old Diamond Willow that has been here since before the pioneers settled, I'm sure.

Grand-willow's branches through the sunlight...
The boys holding one of Grandmother's cast-off branches.

Below is the scene from close to my great-great grandfather's house-the first house in Magrath. Looking south over the creek.

An old yoke that hangs above the RV park-- I just thought it was a cool shot!


Isaac's toque is hilarious! He loves it. I just needed to get that captured for posterity!


Here is Spence, glorying in the photo-shoot.

And lastly, someone has llamas (or are they alpacas? I don't know the difference) in the field beside my GGGrand's house. I spent many days playing in that field with my friend Lisa Nishikawa-- she always had the best toys, and about 10 cabbage patch dolls! I was so jealous.