Sukanen Ship & Pioneer Museum

The Sukanen Ship & Pioneer Museum is a local gem. It is open mid May-September & located 13 km south of Moose Jaw on Highway 2 South. 

My heart bled a little for Tom Sukanen. What a story of grief! 

Tom was born Finnish & learnt shipbuilding. He sailed from Finland to Michigan where he met & married a young Finnish woman. They had four children. Tom wished for more for his young family. He travelled 600 km by foot after hearing from his brother to Saskatchewan to start a homestead. Here he worked hard & over seven years raised the incredible sum of $9000 for that time. With this sum he travelled back to Michigan to collect his wife & family, only to find his wife had died of influenza & his children had been sent to foster homes. He was able to locate one son & attempted to return to Canada with this son only to be stopped & his son taken from him by the authorities. Alone he returned to Canada, heartbroken.  When the Great Depression struck in 1929, Tom traveled the high spring water of the Saskatchewan River to Hudson Bay on a heavy rowboat he had built himself. From there, he took a job on a freight ship to Finland, returning to Saskatchewan shortly after. Upon his return Tom began to build a ship- the Sontianen- his dream project that he hoped to sail to Finland. For six long years during the Depression, when resources were scarce, he laboured to build this ship. Nearing completion all he had left to do was tow the parts to the Hudson Bay, where the parts would be assembled and the steam engine and boiler installed. His neighbours did not understand his project & called him crazy. A local neighbor refused to assist him in moving the structure even though he easily could have assisted with his steam engines. Local vandals stripped the metal from the hull. Tom was so depressed with this turn of events he did not even protest when he was taken to an institutional hospital where he would end his days.

There are numerous outbuildings also to tour alongside the ship including pioneer homesteads, a railway station, grain elevators, stores, a church, school & buildings with collections of antique vehicles among others. Really there is so much to see that we didn't even get to exploring every building before it started to rain & museum fatigue had set in. You need to set aside 2-3 hours to see everything. 

It is definitely worth a visit! The only qualifier I would add for the museum to improve on is to get rid of the horrid manequins. They are really ghastly, haha! 

Summer Storms & Crockpot Chili

 

 

Lately we've been having some incredible summer storms on the prairies. This photo of a shelf cloud is from a neighbor down the street. "A shelf cloud is a low, horizontal wedge-shaped cloud, associated with a thunderstorm gust front (or occasionally with a cold front, even in the absence of thunderstorms). A rising cloud motion often can be seen in the leading part of the shelf cloud, while the underside often appears turbulent, boiling, and wind-torn." (Source: accuweather.com) Shelf clouds are often mistaken for tornados. 

After the other nights storm that woke us up and left me rather groggy in the morning it was rather chilly in the morning. It felt like a day for having chili even though I suspected it wouldn't be long before the sun broke through the morning mist. Chili is really easy to make and really you rarely need a recipe- onions, celery, peppers, chili powder, cumin, coriander, tomatoes, beans, (& my dad always added a few tablespoons of brown sugar to his too)... Hot summer days are perfect for crockpot meals. I found this recipe for crockpot chili & cornbread. Instead of adding beef broth I substituted beer. I thought it gave the chili a fabulous flavour profile. It's a mild chili, L commented this chili needed more heat, so if you make it and want more heat I'd recommend some hot peppers. I also added a large can of brown beans because when I was growing up that was how my dad made his chili. Another quick summer trick I have is to fry up onions, red & orange peppers earlier in the week and have these in the refrigerator -then they can be added to recipes throughout the week. Its less tears that way for me- I cut an onion and I might as well have attended a funeral. 

Farmer's Market & Downtown Walk

I always enjoy going to the farmer's market on a Saturday in the summer. I was delighted to learn my new community has an outdoor farmer's market. I bought some fresh peas, cabbage, lettuce, and beets from the Hutterites. I also bought some rhubarb from another vendor. 

Because it was Saturday it just felt right to stroll downtown & through the park. 

This building I think has so much potential! I love to reimagine spaces- especially the inside of diner dives and sometimes buildings that now stand vacant. I'd love to see this building re-imagined as a trendy restaurant on the bottom level- it's right next to a 210,000 square-foot facility featuring an entertainment/sports bowl, an 8 sheet curling club, banquet & meeting rooms. The upper levels could be re-imagined as condos or apartments. 

I especially love how someone had a vision and reimagined this space as a restaurant and art gallery. It is just beautiful.

Baby J fell asleep on our leisurely stroll and I purchased a latte along with a cinnamon roll downtown that I brought back with me to the park. 

Have you been to the farmer's market recently? What vegetables or fruits are in season where you live? What do you think I should make with all the beets and cabbage I bought? 

Happy Canada Day!

In our community today activities for Canada Day included a community pancake breakfast, music in the park in the afternoon , and fireworks in the evening. We're fancy like this.

 We elected to have friends over for pancakes, blueberries, and maple syrup. Real maple syrup. Mmmm

Then we went to the park to listen to bands play in the amphitheater. If you own a food truck meant for foodies please move to my city. I settled for a hotdog over a cheese burger, hamburger, or taco in a bag as I'm also frugal--well not entirely as otherwise I would have packed my own snacks. We were attacked by mosquitos. I thought I'd also be productive and return my library books on our Canada Day excursions. Alas the library was closed on this fine holiday and my library fines continue to amass. 

 

 

L came home from work and as he missed out on our earlier Canada Day festivities I thought I'd make for him some pancakes also - this time with strawberries. What do you think of my pancake batter maple leaf skills? Haha

 

Baby J is still too young for fireworks but perhaps I can catch a glimpse from my patio this evening while enjoying a chilled beer. 

A Pottery Artist Studio Visit

Often I pass this little studio/gallery that was once a church and think I should really pop in. 

Today was that day! 

It really is a treasure! 

It is run by the artists Zach Dietrich and Wendy Parsons. 

Zach throws pottery at the wheel and crafts more functional pieces.

Wendy sculpts detailed works. They also work collaboratively on some pieces.

I was met by Zach upon enterring. He was very friendly and invited me to visit the studio in the basement after browsing around and to see the wood fire kiln behind the studio that they were loading.

I tried to throw pottery at the wheel when I was in art school and it was challenging! But how lovely is this view?

I met some of the most friendly people in the studio in the basement from the local pottery club that were there to help load the kilns. They toured me through the studio, the kilns out back, and even invited me to join their pottery club, as well as, return the following day to help fire the kilns. 

They explained to me the difference between electric, gas and wood fire kilns and the effect it has on the finish of the piece. Here is the gas kiln loaded and ready to be fired.

The wood fire kiln is to be fired tomorrow. A wood fire kiln produces a much more rustic finish.

I couldn't help but purchase a few pieces when I left. I really liked that teapot pictured below also. It was priced at $120 which is reasonable for handcrafted pottery but unfortunately more than I had alloted myself to spend today especially since I would have wanted then to purchase the creamer and sugar to complete the set. Most of the tea-cups and coffee mugs are priced between $16-24 each. I purchased a teacup and two small bowls.

If you visit Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan be sure to check out this little gallery/studio. Many of the pieces are one of a kind hand crafted from Saskatchewan clay and glazes drawing on the colours and designs of the prairie environment.