Eve's Musings

I thought it was about time that I added to our blogs of our super-trip but Bill covers our day to day travels so well. However, I've been thinking about a few things that I'd like to share with you.

First of all: Is there anything I wish we'd brought with us on our travels?

We managed to pack nearly everything we need but I do regret leaving my book of North American Wildflowers behind. On which note.......

Everywhere you go in the Canadian countryside there are lots flowers along the roadsides. Many are introduced European flowers but some are unique to the province/climate they are growing in. Who would have thought that the Yukon has its own dandelion species? They look just like the brutes that grow in our garden at home but have a different structure around the petals (I think) that make them unique. Each province has its own special wildflower, for example, the Yukon has Fireweed which is the first plant to recover and flower after the many forest fires that occur in the area. Newfoundland has a Pitcher Plant and Alberta the Wild Rose. Goldenrod is another chosen plant but I forget which province claims it as its own – it grows just about everywhere.

To change the subject entirely, now I'm going to talk about bread. When we were in Whitehorse, our friend Anne-Marie Dillon was able to get me a dried sourdough starter which I have re-constituted and use regularly to make bread. The original starter came from 1898 – yes folks – 1898! It was begun by a family in Whitehorse and carried around in various forms on hunting trips and other travels. The family have kept it going all these many years and now one of the descendants of the original family gives dried starters away. I hope I can take a dried sample back home eventually and continue its long life there. It's a particularly easy recipe and doesn't involve all the faff of other sourdoughs I've had and given up on.

Change of subject again. Accents now. O.K. You've probably heard that all Canadians use the word 'Eh' At the end of sentences. I beg to differ because I think they use the word 'Right' (pronounced “Rate”) far more as a conclusion. Also, I was surprised, though I shouldn't have been considering the size of Canada, that there are distinct regional accents. It's particularly noticeable in Labrador where the natives speak in a sort of country twang and so fast it's almost unintelligible. In Newfoundland there's a definite Irish brogue of the 'Begorrah' kind mixed in with the Canadian.

Next, Walmart. Well, we've been inside many of their shops as we often park the camper in their carparks, but so far we haven't seen any of the weirdly dressed shoppers there that you often see on YouTube clips. I bet there's a lot of folks who've been stark naked in the middle of a Walmart carpark though, considering all the people who take advantage of the store's policy that you can park there overnight.

Musings over for now folks but there will definitely be more to share with you later on in our trip.