Sunday June 30

Well, the peace didn’t last – there was a domestic dispute around 11 pm and the chaos continued until 12. I stayed tucked in and just fine, but my sleep suffered. This is the first time I've been nervous at night.

Today I was looking forward to kayaking, but the lake was whitecapping, and didn’t let up until evening. So instead I walked to the Nicolle homestead – the property which gave rise to this place. It’s a beautiful stone building which must have been something to make back in the day. As usual the surroundings were spectacular.

Approaching the house.

Someone had removed the board from one of the windows - this is the inside - full of pigeon poop. The stuff of nightmares.

The view from the homestead.

It must have been a beautiful place in its day. There were foundations for a large barn - the wooden part of the structure had been removed. And there were foundations for an extension to the barn which was never completed. According to the sign, over the winter of 1906/7 the family lost 400 horses which would have inhabited the barn! Must have been a hellish place to be that winter. While this family must have been wealthy to build a two storey stone building with barns, it still must have been a hard life.

The rest of the day was spent around camp – reading, needlepoint, knitting, napping. Tough life. I’m ready to move on. I’ll stay in Regina a couple of nights and then head north and west. Alberta bound!