Homespun by Laurel Nadon

Stamp Around Downtown

Camrose has begun! WIN A WEEKLY PRIZE

of $100

…or t h e G R A N D PR I Z E of a $1,500

S hopping S pree (at participating downtown businesses) Congratulations to weekly winners of $100: Week #1: Jo-anne Yuzik, Killam SUPPORT THE BUSINESSES INVOLVED IN THIS YEAR’S PROMOTION

ADVERTISING, PRINTING, FL AG S • The Camrose Booster AESTHETIC S, MAS S AGE & SPA SERVICE • ALO Aesthetics • Revive Salon & Day Spa • Square One Hair Salon ART SUPPLIES, FR AMING • Candler Ar t Galler y • Encore Furnishings AUTO BAT TERIE S • Nyback RV Centre BBQs & GRILLS • R&D Hot Tubs BOWLING • Tabb Lanes CELL PHONES & AC C E S S O R I ES • Electro Tel CLE ANING SUPPLIE S, VACU UMS & JANITORIAL GOODS • The Soap S top CLOTHING, FO OT WE AR • Bellissima • Du L ay ton’s Men’s Wear • From Kicks to Kids • Camrose & District Thrif t

Shop • Kaoz Kids / Kaoz Kloset • Fringe Bene ts • Sole Cit y Shoes • Sure Exposure • Bra Necessities COFFEE SHOP, DINING, SNACKS, BAKERY • Camrose Co ee • Fiona’s Co ee & Gif ts • The Lefse House • The S weeterie • Twists & More CR A F T S, HOBBIE S • Quilting From The Hear t • Candler Ar t Galler y • Encore Furnishings DRYCLE ANING, L AUNDRY SERVICE • Francoeur Cleaners ENTERTAINMENT, ELECTRONIC S, AUDIO • Audio Video Unlimited FLOR AL SERVICE S • Bea’s Blooms • Pedersen’s Florists FLOOR COVERING S • NuFloors FURNITURE , BEDDING, APPLIANCE S • The Brick • Encore Furnishings • Hauser Home Hardware

Building Centre • Interiors on Main • Ken’s Furniture • Old Hippy Fine Wood

Furnishings GAS, PROPANE • Wild Rose Co - op East End • Wild Rose Co - op

Downtown GENER AL MERCHANDISE & G I F T S • Centra Cam Outlet S tore • Centra Cam Emergency

Outlet GROCERY • Save On Foods • Wild Rose Co - op • Vinesations HAIR SALONS • Revive Salon & Day Spa • Square One Hair Studio HE ALTH, BE AUT Y, PERSONAL CARE • L a kehouse Naturals Soap

Company • Nutters • ALO Aesthetics • Revive Salon & Day Spa • Square One Hair Studio • IDA R x Drugmar t HOME DECOR ATING & DECOR • Interiors On Main • Wideman Paint & Decor HOT TUB S, SPAS • R&D Hot Tubs INSUR ANCE • Central Agencies JE WELLE RY, TIMEPIECES & REPAIR • LaScala Jewellers LIQUOR & SPIRIT S • Dales Liquor S tore LUMBE R , HARDWARE

Hauser Home Hardware •

Building Centre MACHINING, WELDING, PL ASMA CUT TING • Camrose Machine &

Welding MOBILIT Y PRODUCT S • Take Care Mobilit y • S wan Cit y Mobilit y OPTICAL, OPTOMETRY • FYI Doctors • Iris • Visionmasters PAINT, SUNDRIE S, WALLPAPE R • Wideman Paint & Decor • Hauser Home Hardware

Building Centre • Windsor Ply wood PHARMACY & GIF T WARE • IDA R x Drugmar t POSTAL SERVICE • Canada Post QUILTING, SE WING MACHINES & SUPPLIE S • Quilting From The Hear t RV REPAIR & MAINTENANCE • Nyback RV Centre SNOWMOBILE S, OFFROAD, YARD CARE EQUIPMENT • Camrose Motorspor ts SPORTING GOODS • Battle River Spor ts

E xcellence TANNING • Havanatan Body Bronzing

Studio TOBACCO, VAPE PRODUCT S • VIP Labs, Vape in

Paradise VITAMINS & SUPPLEMENT S • Nutters WATER PRODUCT & DISPENSERS • Prairie Rose Bottled Water • Purit y Water WINDSHIELDS, WINDOWS & GL AS S • Cr ystal Glass WINDOW FASHIONS • Interiors On Main • Wideman Paint & Decor • NuFloors

A n ot he r p ro m o t i o n by :

Wildlife lesson learned

We were visited by a muskrat last weekend. We thought it was so fuzzy and cute, waddling around outside of our house, leaving the coolest tracks with footprints on each side and a tail drag mark down the middle. I stepped outside onto the concrete patio in my slippers to take photos and a video of the little critter. He was in my strawberry planters when I started the video, happily munching on the hay that is on top of the plants for the winter. I said, “Hey, what do you think you’re doing in my strawberries?” He slid down, slowly making his way toward me while I continued to video. Then suddenly he lunged at me from the snow onto the patio and started to run at me! I hollered at him in my stern, back-off-animals voice, completely forgot to turn off the video, and raced back through the door. The muskrat kept wandering around, and then started scratching at the door.

My husband, who built our house, is quite protective of it getting damaged. He decided the muskrat, while cute and furry, needed to go back to his own home. He grabbed a shovel as he went outside and was surprised when the muskrat lunged at him and bit the shovel. My husband escorted it back to the trees in the shovel, and we didn’t see him again. The video was quite funny, and has me telling my family what just happened since I hadn’t turned it off. (My brother later told me that sometimes muskrats go exploring in the winter, or have domestic squabbles and somebody gets kicked out of the lodge. No wonder he arrived so cantankerous if he had just been kicked out!)

That afternoon, as we had an epic game of Settlers of Catan Cities and Knights, whenever I looked outside, my daughter asked if I was looking for my “attacker”. The kids all thought it was quite hilarious, Mom and then Dad being attacked by a vicious, but small and cute muskrat. After supper that night, I said that we had learned an important lesson–all wild creatures need their space. My daughter said, “Mom, we already knew that.” Okay, so maybe it was a reminder of something we already knew.

Of course, this is a lesson that I know when it applies to large creatures. Once, in our pre-children era, my husband and I went for a hike in the mountains with a good friend. We set up a tent, then hiked across a steep area over to a wild hot spring that we knew about nearby. We relaxed there for quite awhile, then our friend headed back to our camp area. After a bit, he radioed us on our walkie talkie that we had along (this was way before everyone carried a cell phone). He said that there was a grizzly bear above him, rolling rocks down the mountain while it searched for food. Our friend set about preparing a pot of boiling water in case it came too close. We cautiously made our way back to the tent on the trail below the bear.

Normally, we would have started cooking supper at that point, but there was no way we could do that with a bear so close by. We quickly packed everything back up, keeping an eye on where the grizzly was. By this time, it was growing dark. We put our backpacks on and hiked down the mountain with our headlamps on, making lots of noise and arriving back at the truck along the highway late at night. I had never been so grateful to see my vehicle as I was then. We had definitely known to give that particular kind of wild creature its space.

Last weekend, it was the muskrat’s cuteness that tricked me. Perhaps my muskrat lesson was that even small, cute-looking wild creatures need their space.