ELDERSLEY, Sask. – The bright red geraniums won’t wilt or die in the frost on Pat Shemko’s garden shed. And the twining flowered vine in her bathroom never falls off its trellis.
The abundant vegetation around her Country Pioneer Style vacation home is partly real and partly the result of her painting. Although Pat says she’s not an artist, she admits it helps to be handy with a paintbrush to spruce up her operation.
Her bed and breakfast home is located 14 kilometres east of Tisdale, Sask., just north of Highway 41. Although opened to guests last summer, Pat regards this year as her true beginning in the business.
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Pat, her husband Dennis and youngest daughter Kelly-Jo have had visitors this summer from Denmark, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta. They stay in the three bedrooms of the big old house across the yard from the Shemko’s own house.
Pat has been working sporadically on the 1917 house for the past seven years.
The Shemkos had the house moved to the site to be part of a museum and heritage farm. It was planned to fit in with the 60 pieces of old farm machinery and tractors Dennis collects and all the antiques Pat has acquired. But the $5,000 cost of the move persuaded them to try to make more money with a bed and breakfast.
“I started (collecting) when I was a child. I have a passion for anything old. I wish I didn’t. You don’t have to replace your furniture but when I see something old, I want it.”
Pat once stood all day in the snow at an auction after spying a wooden recliner chair. It was among the last items to be sold and as the only bidder she got it for $3. Now recovered, it is one of the chairs in the living room of the guesthouse.
Tractor scrounger
Dennis, who quit farming 17 years ago to work in construction, collects tractors.
“He had the opportunity to see and find stuff,” said Pat.
The results of his scrounging are lined up neatly in the yard behind the houses and barns. Dennis’s dad visits from Tisdale twice a year to start the old machines and explain them to guests.
The Shemkos’ collections inspired the theme of the vacation home, which places guests on a 1920 prairie farm. Beside the refurbished house, there is a petting zoo with horses, goats, miniature donkeys, ducks, chickens, rabbits, cats and a lamb.
Around the yard the landscaping of flowers and trees is matched by a productive vegetable garden that fills three freezers.
The Shemkos also have an outdoor swimming pool and plan to add to the kid’s playground next year.
Pat painted and decorated the house herself in dark green on the outside, lightened by verandah posts and trim in white, plus red and white flowers. The inside is painted white with pine and fir hardwood floors set off by a cool blue patterned wallpaper up to wainscotting level.
Inside are Pat’s furniture finds, her crafts and a working wood stove and water pump at the sink. The black and white photographs on the wall that look like relatives, but aren’t, and the casual pile of decades-old Chatelaine magazines add a homey touch.
But Pat’s plans aren’t finished yet.
“I’d like to get a spinning wheel … and a Jersey cow next spring to milk. I’ve never milked a cow or sheared a sheep but I’m sure I could learn now.”
Sometimes she thinks she’d also like a teahouse and to sell her crafts which include dried flowers grown in the big garden. A pond for the ducks and a berry patch in the garden are also on her list.
Someday the Shemkos may keep their vacation home open in winter but for now it’s open from May to November and they hope to draw local wedding parties and family reunions, as well as fall hunters and highway travellers.
With her daughter moving to Regina after this summer, Pat may have to hire some help.
But Pat won’t have to rely upon others for a positive attitude.
“I love Saskatchewan. I just wish everyone knew that (about this province). I like it. I’m very proud of it. Farming is the best life. It’s a little iffy. You’re your own boss and the hours are wonderful.”
