Those with a weak stomach....be warned!

So, we're trying to make some progress in our little bar on the prairies by coming up with interesting tourist-drawing gimmicks. One that we have had on our mind for some time is "The Piapot Six Shot" It consists of 5 shots of Rye and water...with a mysterious 6th shot which we had yet to discover. One day we were talking about that 6th shot, and we came up with a little something that would draw the good, the bad and the down right brave! A prairie oyster! (for those who don't know what this is...it consists of the remains of a calf's castration lovingly prepared for the enjoyment of unsuspecting folks) Well, we had only one issue...where do you get THAT many calf-nuts? Lucky for us, Joe Braniff went to a branding this morning and showed up with a grocery bag plum FULL...of castrated calf testes! Garth Noble gave me a quick lesson on removing the teste from the sack, and I was on my way! The picture to the left is my display of calf-art...the complete set we were given. Glenn was very proud, and just a tad disturbed, that I did this for us! Thanks Joe and Murray (from Calgary) who provided such entertainment for me this afternoon. That's me and Joe with the prairie delicacy!

Now for some sweet and innocent news! On a recent trip out to Garth Noble's ranch one evening, we ran across his litter of 8 week old greyhound pups. Glenn and I were both instantly drawn to them...and then Garth told us to pick one out and take them home. We thought about if for a nano-second, and then picked a sweet little girl with white on her chest, paws, nose and the tip of her tail. We have named her Janey, and she is quite the little ankle biter. She is really easy to train so far, and we just love her! Thanks for reading...more wild and wacky news from Piapot to come...Cheers. Nicole

The Nature Tour

It was a slow Sunday in Piapot and we decided to shut it down early for the first time in three weeks and take another little tour of the Saskatchewan Soutwest. The sun was still high in the sky and it was clear with some good cloud formations which make for the best sunsets when the time comes.

We headed east and started in Gull lake with some shots of the old grain elevator. Then we checked out the town hoping to have a beer at the hotel but the bar was closed. Onward bound and heading south we traveled towards the windmills where we were also met with tons of oil drilling. This part of the country has an amazing wealth of untapped natural resources available and it is perfectly evident when you can see bio-diesel (wheat and other crops), windmills and oil rigs all in one picture and then you have the potash that is under the ground. The sun continued it's course and so much more elaborate than my imagination could have envisioned we were greeted with breath taking views in every direction. On top of the stunning sunset, an abundance of wildlife was waiting for us to spend time with them including baby antelope and dear, badger, beaver or muskrat and 3 giant horned owls which even stayed long enough for Nicole to drive across the field, get my camera bag out of the trunk and pass me a longer focal length lens. Being primarily a fashion photographer has it's disadvantages when shooting wildlife since I typically shoot with prime lens with wide apertures when I need to zoom in or out I do so with my feet. It has always been an advantage for me as it inhibits any laziness which I found came when shooting with a zoom lens. Anyways, it sure sucks when you have a wide lens on the camera and you need to capture a beautiful shot of some wildlife several hundred yards away. That's why when shooting events I carry two cameras!!! So first is the wide angle shot of the house which is easily one of my favorite shots of late. Then below is one of the owls that was living in this who came out and perched on the roof edge like a.... well like a picture darn-it!!!






On the way back across the grid roads, we stopped in Carmichael and captured another breathtaking Saskatchewan scene with the last of the sunlight lighting up the train cars and clouds I feel like heaven it always right outside my door.... It's just a matter of taking some time to get the most of simplicity and that is something that I will be doing for sure!!!

The Big Update

I won't be able to get all the details into one blog post but here is a nutshell of some of the events over the past few weeks....


The bar opened for a soft opening on May 23, 2008

The cooler compressor broke 2 hours after opening the doors... It is still not fixed because the repair guy has decided we are last priority. He also took the part with him so I couldn't go somewhere else. Two weeks is a really long time!!!

Nicole got on her first horse.... Inside the bar

The cops came in and took someone out...

Acres of Lions and Thesat, two bands from Victoria stopped in and partied for an afternoon

The national kids cancer ride tour chose Piapot as a stopping location and we hosted about 50 crew and athletes from 10:30pm to 5:30am. We were very tired but happy to have met so many fantastic people working so hard for a great cause. For more information check out the website www.nationalkidscancerride.com

Everyone had such a great time that they will be coming back to Piapot next year.


It has been a non stop adventure and there is always something eventful going on here in Piapot......