Throwback Thursday? Markerville!

This is Otis!

All aboard!

Central Alberta - Summer Showcase Weekend. Every summer they have Country Drive (check it out if you'd like to hit it up next year, at www.countrydrive.ca) including a festival in Historic Markerville. The website describes it thusly;

    Sunday is our annual Cream Day! This open house event will run from noon to 5pm. Try your hand at making         butter and ice cream. Enjoy local, live entertainment while the kids participate in tons of activities such as the         petting zoo which features local farm animals – always a favourite! The concession will offer homemade pies         and ice cream along with hamburgers and hotdogs. Guided museum tours will be offered at no charge. Lots of     fun for everyone!

It's true. It was a good time. A little hot out, but good fun for the whole family and we saw some pretty cool stuff. Didn't try our hand at making cream, but saw some other neat things...

One thing we saw was the miniature village - as Markerville was in 1907. I thought the church was cute, mostly for the little wedding couple (that kind of looks like they're already fighting, actually!

The miniature Stephansson Historic House - a site that's not too far away... just down the miniature creek.

As soon as I saw this owl, I ran over. I recognized this one (and did not confuse it with a monkey this time) as Otis. Otis is a resident for the Medicine River Wildlife Centre, a place I'd been to in the summer of 2010 where I'd met their resident porcupine, Charlie. Like Charlie, Otis seems to love attention (and allegedly gets his nose in a snit when he and Charlie tour together because he doesn't get as much attention when there's a friendly porcupine in the area!). Weighing in at a mere 2 pounds (due to hollow bones), we were allowed to pat Otis, who had some of the softest feathers I've ever touched. You can see how his mouth is open in this photo, because Owls, it turns out, pant just like dogs. Owls are unable to sweat, so they do like our four-legged friends. Definitely the highlight of the day.

A yodeling cowboy! I kept saying he should play the log-driver's waltz!)

From the Markerville festival, we headed out to White Treasure Farm, a goat farm that produces wool for spinning, which the owner dyes and uses to knit or crochet and sell in bulk for socks.

Here's the description of the farm operation...
    Make White Treasure Farm one of your stops on Country Drive. This is home to one of the finest herds of                 angora goats. See first-hand how the fibre is processed from lock to yarn. Spectators will have an                             opportunity to experiment with colours in the dying process. For your children, Sunny the farm pony is                     available for picture taking. Bring your camera. Hiking socks, saddle blankets, yarn and hides on display                 and for sale.

Mom getting a visit from Sunny, who seems to wander around, as the wool is spun.

Look at the beautiful colours she gets!

These little goats *do* have ears, just very, very small ones.

I think these goats are the angora goats, given they're the ones with the thick coats.

I will post the pictures from the Danish Canadian Museum tomorrow. But I highly recommend checking it the Country Drive out if you happen to be in Central Alberta next summer. They also have the Fall Showcase, in late September too. Check it out!