It's amazing that I have not been on this blog for at least 10 weeks! You'd think I was busy doing other things. Not true. I've been a slacker.
HOUSE
I was lieing...we have worked so hard these past two and a half months; our bathroom and bedroom were painted ; the hall has been mudded and primed; the living room is mudded and will be sanded and primed this coming week; the pantry is finished! Love my pantry; the kitchen cabinets are a work in progress and they look so good; the floor is down in the pantry and bedroom; the shower has its pan down and the backer board up...waiting for fixtures, J2 will be soooo happy this Christmas; the ceiling is primed; the property is winterized and we now wait for the first continuous snowfall which is supposed to be this coming week!
FRIENDS
You're probably wondering...admit it, you are...how did those two ol' farts get all that done? Well, we didn't...there appeared on our doorstep 4 wonderful friends who came for a few days and worked, worked, worked (there may have been some wine drunk, some songs sung) but they were here to help and we accomplished so much. Mainly because they have ever so much energy! Honestly, I needed a holiday afterwards.
We have know our friends for 37 years; friends who can walk in the door and start talking as if we hadn't been apart. D put down the floors, Bill cut the wood, L painted, painted, painted, B offered to do the shower pan as a present for Bill's birthday (wow!, Bill had been dreading that), J (not me) mastered the saw! And we laid the floor in the pantry and bedroom, primed and painted the pantry, primed the ceiling in the whole living area (arrggh), put up part of the beadboard in the bathroom and on top of it all: we sang, ate the best meals because L must be the best cook (we had S A L M O N); told stories; reminisced and drank our little hearts out. We did. Absolutely. Can't get enough of them...just like sugar crisps.
WEATHER AT DEKA
Last year I arrived on November 1, our first snowfall of note was December 1. Bill had enjoyed a really colourful fall and I was looking forward to seeing the colours this year. Hah! It started out beautifully...bright sunny days, lovely moody ones, trees turning and then.....scream, say Hi to the poor little surfer girl and bye to the garden kitsch. A shot for our wonderful neighbours , see what you're missing?
It snowed 6 inches that day...really wet stuff. Most of it melted away but there is still a skiff around the property. If you drive for a few miles out to Horse Lake Road the snow is, poof, gone. I really believe Deka has it's own weather. This coming week is supposed to be the "dump"---a little early but what the heck, maybe it will go early too! Ha Ha. And of course, we need to go to Williams Lake and it should be a blizzard by then. Well done, Mother Nature!
Coming back after I get the supper going....
Supper got going and got eaten....Roast Chicken, Potatoes, Carrots, Acorn Squash, Parsnips, Pickled Beets...no movie as tv is in storage until the sander sands the living room. Bother.
And I've watched all the way up to and including Season 12 of Midsomer Murders. What to do, what to do....
FACEBOOK
I am an avid user of FB; I love it to bits. This is my link to the outside world; a lot of my ex-colleagues and the majority of my friends are on it and it is the best therapy for me. I love it, love it, love it. It consumes me some days but so far I like to think that I'm not addicted, sort of, maybe, well, we'll see.
FOREST ROADS
We are going to use river rock in our shower floor so J1 and C took us for a great ride up forest roads and into Jim Creek. There we chose some wonderful stones to put into the floor; I'm hoping that wasn't too illegal. We stopped at a few lakes along the road~~Cougar, Coldscaur~~it was a brilliant day and we really enjoyed the backcountry. We headed past Hathaway and the past the turnoff to what was once Camp Deka and the 3M Simmenthal Ranch (such wonderful beef, highly recommended!) and further into the bush. It was great, a lovely time with son and grandson . I'm not sure my kidneys want to do it again any time soon.
THERE AND BACK AGAIN OR, FALSE THANKSGIVING
We needed a holiday; so many days working without a break from work or from each other...it does take it's toll. Our family was going to get together for Thanksgiving and we were all so excited but floods overtook the sister's home and we had to cancel. Something about Airport size fans in their house...go figure. That was okay but the cousins decided that it wasn't okay and that we should re-group. So we did. We chose a weekend where J2 had a flex day and the sister was up for it as the fans had been removed and a semblance of normality was in the house. Bill and I drove down on the thursday, J2 came over on Friday, we had False Thanksgiving on Saturday and came home Monday. Whirlwind but worth every minute of it. Although I'm not so sure about J2 and the BC Ferries from Hell. A normal weekend, she was there at 10:20 and the ferry was FULL! Luckily there was a 12. But bother...then when she went home we started checking hours before she was to leave and FULL, FULL, FULL...We finally got a reservation on the 9pm; then she heard on the ferry that the Pat Bay was closed due to a major accident. Not a happy camper to say the least. But she did have the chance to eat UB's Curry dinner....to die for.
False Thanksgiving dinner was great! We ordered in from the best Chinese restaurant; we must have had 9 dishes and we made quick work of it. Sooooo good. Our friends also came for dinner and there was music in the air. It's been a long time since we have sat down with family and friends and had a musical evening. And it was great to have all the cousins there too. They are so busy it's hard to get them in one room for an evening.
I edited these but there are still a number of "scenery" shots, I just adore the canyons and clouds and weather....what can I say. Just don't look.
ALL HALLOW'S EVE
I wondered what happened on my favourite pagan holiday and phoned my neighbour to find out what i should expect. It seems that there are very few kids that come out but there would be a few. I carved my pumpkin, bought the treats and waited. It is so dark out here I put lanterns out so they could see their way down the driveway up to the pumpkin where I had the candy. J1 and C came over around 5:30 to hang out before going out on their adventure. The DLVFD members and friends were going to have a bonfire, treats and hot dogs, plus fireworks that evening after the trick or treating. Parents take their kids out in their trucks and go house to house. We only had about 8 kids come to the property but we are at the end of the cul de sac and there is only one other house on the road. Our neighbours made sure that people knew to go further down the road. The first child down the driveway slid on the frost and landed on his tushie, he jumped up and hearing my concern said: I always do that! Okay...well, he was Superman. Next year I hope to head out to the bonfires. There is one at the Interlakes or Bridge Lake rodeo grounds that has a scary stall competition and a haunted house; plus a huge bonfire and treats, chili dogs and fireworks.
The evening was magical...beautiful white moon, wispy fog, frost and crisp, crisp, crisp! Beautiful.
RAINBOW
Just wanted to share some photos of a most beautiful evening.....
and do I ever love the new Blog site~~~~~so easy!
Signing off ....
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Monday, 7 September 2009
Holy Hannah, has it been that long??
HOUSE
So much has been accomplished! During the hottest weeks of summer we decided to put up the siding. We could only work for about 4 hours at a time and as early as possible in the morning...of course, with us this meant 9am or a little later. Well, you don't want to wake up the wildlife. We had absolutely no idea how to install siding so we spoke to a fellow who had just done his shed with channel siding, got some great tips and he also loaned us his staple air gun. Woo hoo! As we thought we'd be using palm hammers (remember Bill's wrist is still painful) this was a great blessing. That air gun just does it in no time. Our first attempts on the road side of the house had the line just a little off so we did it again and finally went with the flow. As two Libras working on anything that requires symmetry it can get really frustrating. Once we decided that perfection was just foolish and "looks good" was the better option, we had a much better time of it. Although, it was stated many times that triple windows were a killer. The belly boards were done plus the flashing/drip caps. It's so easy to type about all the work we did but was it ever hard! We did an amazing job for two ol' farts and are very proud of ourselves.
Final pics of siding and belly boards
Then there is the staining and the shingles for the gable ends.....
The gutters are up, the rain chain (oh, I love my rain chain), the entry way tiles are in!, and the bedroom has been mudded and taped. And the bathroom has just had it's first coat of paint on it! Alcove with primerThere will be beadboard to put up and the shower to do but we will be putting the floor in before the beadboard which is just so exciting.
With Bill's injury we were set back about 6 weeks and dealing with local suppliers has been a bit of a nightmare (!) but I think we still accomplished a heck of a lot. It would have been nice to do the deck but we still have a couple of months yet. Fingers crossed. The biggie is to get the holes dug for the deck needs 4 foot holes with 16 inch anchors or whatever you call them. It's finding someone with time to do such a small job. We absolutely cannot dig those holes ourselves. So, maybe in October....
COMPANY
Summer was a riot of visitors. Family and friends galore. My daughter started it all off with a wonderful visit at the beginning of July...she drove the Canyons in no time at all, had no problems in her zippy, fuel efficient car and only got lost when she was one block away (well, not lost but a little turned around). It was a great visit with a day off from the house and we took that zippy little car and gave ourselves a treat to Kamloops. The big city. We did a lot of shopping and J2 helped with the picking of the tiles which really did save my little brain. It was a deliciously hot day in town (heat is what J2 lives on)and we had a great lunch at Boston Pizza as usual. I've still to find a good, diner style restaurant there. There were ice creams, visits to view the puppies and visit with the grandchildren aka niece/nephew. The camper was given the Princess Seal of Approval. It was the perfect nest for her! We thought it would give her a sense of privacy and where she could throw all her belongings without getting covered in dust! Hard to say good bye but she promised to come up again at the end of August with the Deka Lake Convoy.
Next was a colleague of mine from the Library. He stopped in for a couple of nights on his way to PG and even further north for a well deserved holiday. S is an avid amateur naturalist and while he was here I learned many of the names of plants in our plot. On his way back down he stopped for another evening. It was great to see him and to hear of his adventures and to treat him to a little Inspector Lewis. We both love our English mystery shows.
Then came C, my lovely sister. Just can't get enough of her. She arrived mid June and stayed for about 5 days at our favourite lake. It works perfectly; she gets her morning swim, walk and coffee on the deck and then visits with us or we go there for bbqs or coffee. The kids and J1 came over one night and we had a great time. C and I really enjoy our time together and see more of each other now that I'm on the mainland. This is C's favourite area in BC and travels here often.
A and L were to stay a night with us but on their way home they developed car troubles and had to cancel. Hopefully, next year.
Then, glory be~~~the sister is here again. This time she's at her annual family pilgrimage lake...the family has been going there for 15 years! It's a working ranch and therefore there is lots of riding, riding, riding! My nephew also drove up with two of his friends. The gchildren aka gniece and gnephew are always treated to a ride. On the day of the ride C and I waited at the halfway point for the riders, met them for a snack and then I went home leaving the kids for the afternoon. Then on the Saturday we had the boys and C over for supper. Although I had meticulously drawn a detailed map on how to get from one lake to another it seems the boys decided that going all the way to 100 Mile was the best way here. Hmmm. Once here it was a great dinner party. D and his friends are talented young men and it was an evening of great converstation and lots of laughs. Hope D makes it up again. There were two in the family missing in action---one with contracts up the ying yang and the other working her tushy off in Costa Rica. We hope to see them this fall, though. Missed them lots. But it is wonderful to have this opportunity to see them so often.
And then----the Deka Lake Convoy rolled into town. D and S arrived a day early and spent the evening with us and then the day exploring 100 Mile House. We met everyone on the Friday night and prepared supper for the troupe as the drive was long for them. It was the first time driving the Canyons and they really enjoyed the journey. The Lake and weather were perfect . We spent so much time with them, J2 and R joining us on the Saturday. Laughs, swims, chatter, chatter, wine, Guinness, food, ice cream and again with the chatter, chatter. It was great! They spoiled us rotten with their company and wine and many wonderful British mystery dvds as a gift. Miss them awfully. J2 and R stayed in the Princess suite and we really enjoyed being with them. J2's friend, R, helped me enormously with my mudding techniques. He was very kind with his comments and had some excellent hints for future mudding. It was hard to say goodbye to J2, ever so hard.
And now we await the next contingent of friends in September/October. Can't wait~
FIRE AND SMOKE
Everyone in BC knows the horrible fires that have been and are still burning throughout most of the province. At Deka we have been extremely lucky and the Interlakes area has not had any major fires. Those that did start up were quickly put out by the DKVFD. But there were also a few summer "residents" who blatantly ignored the signs and the newscasts saying the whole of BC was an Extreme Fire hazard. We had to actually ask a camper if they knew there was a fire ban! They had a campfire burning away; the camper then demanded what we would do if he didn't put out the fire. We just left and reported it. The camper then started another fire two nights later. Honestly! No respect for people, animals or their homes.
Smoke lay over the Interlakes area for about two weeks. Mostly it was from the Kelly Creek fire and Lava Canyon. You would wake up in the morning, a beautiful, gorgeous morning and smell smoke. It made for amazing sunrises and sunsets but so many people were evacuated from their homes; livestock needed to be found and accomodated. Quite a nightmare. We normally can see hills to the West, North and East....you couldn't see anything. It was very eery. This is the East side where you would normally see hills East of our home
WILD AND NOT SO WILD LIFE
Where to start?? The latest sighting was a mother black bear and her cubs. Three cubs...1, 2, 3! I was so gobsmacked I forgot that I had the camera and poof they were gone. It was on Horse Lake road; we saw mama on the side of the road and by the time we screeched to a stop it was too dangerous to reverse. So we watched her cross the road and wow, then one cub, then two more. They were all sleek and very healthy looking which was good to see. The mom had the most beautiful cinnamon nose. She seemed small but maybe just young. But THREE cubs!
Many deer, moose, cattle, frogs, moths, foxes, marmots, you name it...we've seen it. It's been a wonderful summer for wildlife and not so wild-life
Can I keep this blog going? Let's see....
So much has been accomplished! During the hottest weeks of summer we decided to put up the siding. We could only work for about 4 hours at a time and as early as possible in the morning...of course, with us this meant 9am or a little later. Well, you don't want to wake up the wildlife. We had absolutely no idea how to install siding so we spoke to a fellow who had just done his shed with channel siding, got some great tips and he also loaned us his staple air gun. Woo hoo! As we thought we'd be using palm hammers (remember Bill's wrist is still painful) this was a great blessing. That air gun just does it in no time. Our first attempts on the road side of the house had the line just a little off so we did it again and finally went with the flow. As two Libras working on anything that requires symmetry it can get really frustrating. Once we decided that perfection was just foolish and "looks good" was the better option, we had a much better time of it. Although, it was stated many times that triple windows were a killer. The belly boards were done plus the flashing/drip caps. It's so easy to type about all the work we did but was it ever hard! We did an amazing job for two ol' farts and are very proud of ourselves.
Final pics of siding and belly boards
Then there is the staining and the shingles for the gable ends.....
The gutters are up, the rain chain (oh, I love my rain chain), the entry way tiles are in!, and the bedroom has been mudded and taped. And the bathroom has just had it's first coat of paint on it! Alcove with primerThere will be beadboard to put up and the shower to do but we will be putting the floor in before the beadboard which is just so exciting.
With Bill's injury we were set back about 6 weeks and dealing with local suppliers has been a bit of a nightmare (!) but I think we still accomplished a heck of a lot. It would have been nice to do the deck but we still have a couple of months yet. Fingers crossed. The biggie is to get the holes dug for the deck needs 4 foot holes with 16 inch anchors or whatever you call them. It's finding someone with time to do such a small job. We absolutely cannot dig those holes ourselves. So, maybe in October....
COMPANY
Summer was a riot of visitors. Family and friends galore. My daughter started it all off with a wonderful visit at the beginning of July...she drove the Canyons in no time at all, had no problems in her zippy, fuel efficient car and only got lost when she was one block away (well, not lost but a little turned around). It was a great visit with a day off from the house and we took that zippy little car and gave ourselves a treat to Kamloops. The big city. We did a lot of shopping and J2 helped with the picking of the tiles which really did save my little brain. It was a deliciously hot day in town (heat is what J2 lives on)and we had a great lunch at Boston Pizza as usual. I've still to find a good, diner style restaurant there. There were ice creams, visits to view the puppies and visit with the grandchildren aka niece/nephew. The camper was given the Princess Seal of Approval. It was the perfect nest for her! We thought it would give her a sense of privacy and where she could throw all her belongings without getting covered in dust! Hard to say good bye but she promised to come up again at the end of August with the Deka Lake Convoy.
Next was a colleague of mine from the Library. He stopped in for a couple of nights on his way to PG and even further north for a well deserved holiday. S is an avid amateur naturalist and while he was here I learned many of the names of plants in our plot. On his way back down he stopped for another evening. It was great to see him and to hear of his adventures and to treat him to a little Inspector Lewis. We both love our English mystery shows.
Then came C, my lovely sister. Just can't get enough of her. She arrived mid June and stayed for about 5 days at our favourite lake. It works perfectly; she gets her morning swim, walk and coffee on the deck and then visits with us or we go there for bbqs or coffee. The kids and J1 came over one night and we had a great time. C and I really enjoy our time together and see more of each other now that I'm on the mainland. This is C's favourite area in BC and travels here often.
A and L were to stay a night with us but on their way home they developed car troubles and had to cancel. Hopefully, next year.
Then, glory be~~~the sister is here again. This time she's at her annual family pilgrimage lake...the family has been going there for 15 years! It's a working ranch and therefore there is lots of riding, riding, riding! My nephew also drove up with two of his friends. The gchildren aka gniece and gnephew are always treated to a ride. On the day of the ride C and I waited at the halfway point for the riders, met them for a snack and then I went home leaving the kids for the afternoon. Then on the Saturday we had the boys and C over for supper. Although I had meticulously drawn a detailed map on how to get from one lake to another it seems the boys decided that going all the way to 100 Mile was the best way here. Hmmm. Once here it was a great dinner party. D and his friends are talented young men and it was an evening of great converstation and lots of laughs. Hope D makes it up again. There were two in the family missing in action---one with contracts up the ying yang and the other working her tushy off in Costa Rica. We hope to see them this fall, though. Missed them lots. But it is wonderful to have this opportunity to see them so often.
And then----the Deka Lake Convoy rolled into town. D and S arrived a day early and spent the evening with us and then the day exploring 100 Mile House. We met everyone on the Friday night and prepared supper for the troupe as the drive was long for them. It was the first time driving the Canyons and they really enjoyed the journey. The Lake and weather were perfect . We spent so much time with them, J2 and R joining us on the Saturday. Laughs, swims, chatter, chatter, wine, Guinness, food, ice cream and again with the chatter, chatter. It was great! They spoiled us rotten with their company and wine and many wonderful British mystery dvds as a gift. Miss them awfully. J2 and R stayed in the Princess suite and we really enjoyed being with them. J2's friend, R, helped me enormously with my mudding techniques. He was very kind with his comments and had some excellent hints for future mudding. It was hard to say goodbye to J2, ever so hard.
And now we await the next contingent of friends in September/October. Can't wait~
FIRE AND SMOKE
Everyone in BC knows the horrible fires that have been and are still burning throughout most of the province. At Deka we have been extremely lucky and the Interlakes area has not had any major fires. Those that did start up were quickly put out by the DKVFD. But there were also a few summer "residents" who blatantly ignored the signs and the newscasts saying the whole of BC was an Extreme Fire hazard. We had to actually ask a camper if they knew there was a fire ban! They had a campfire burning away; the camper then demanded what we would do if he didn't put out the fire. We just left and reported it. The camper then started another fire two nights later. Honestly! No respect for people, animals or their homes.
Smoke lay over the Interlakes area for about two weeks. Mostly it was from the Kelly Creek fire and Lava Canyon. You would wake up in the morning, a beautiful, gorgeous morning and smell smoke. It made for amazing sunrises and sunsets but so many people were evacuated from their homes; livestock needed to be found and accomodated. Quite a nightmare. We normally can see hills to the West, North and East....you couldn't see anything. It was very eery. This is the East side where you would normally see hills East of our home
WILD AND NOT SO WILD LIFE
Where to start?? The latest sighting was a mother black bear and her cubs. Three cubs...1, 2, 3! I was so gobsmacked I forgot that I had the camera and poof they were gone. It was on Horse Lake road; we saw mama on the side of the road and by the time we screeched to a stop it was too dangerous to reverse. So we watched her cross the road and wow, then one cub, then two more. They were all sleek and very healthy looking which was good to see. The mom had the most beautiful cinnamon nose. She seemed small but maybe just young. But THREE cubs!
Many deer, moose, cattle, frogs, moths, foxes, marmots, you name it...we've seen it. It's been a wonderful summer for wildlife and not so wild-life
Can I keep this blog going? Let's see....
Sunday, 14 June 2009
Catching up
So, I've been busy.
First of all one of us fell when in town and severely damaged their wrist ligament. Both my wrists are fine so I leave it up to you to decide who fell.
It absolutely devastated Bill; he is the main builder on this worksite and without him all comes to a veritable standstill. The air has been blue in the house with many words said about tripping on one's sandals whilst strolling through town. All the months spent climbing up and down ladders with heavy pieces of sheathing, standing on a steep roof and nailing same sheeting on....not a blister!
So we sucked it up and moved on. Bill found he could still manage his two fingered typing so he could work on volume 3 of his Wild Jack series; and it's amazing how you can manage with one hand. He stained the fascia and we managed to get one side of the fascia up....WCB would have been very upset to see us but what the hell, we did it. I was using a rake to hold up the fascia, Bill could use the drill as long as his wrist was straight, then we worked tandem with me standing on the workmate. As long as I didn't move an inch to either side, I lived. Not bad for two old farts. And today we just put up the kitchen screen door without any damage to either of us.
Our siding hasn't been delivered yet which I think would have put us over the edge. Bill would have been looking at the piled siding and getting frustrated. But, we are going to try to put it up once it comes; it will be so much slower but we will do it. Then the deck. So exciting.
I abandoned Bill for a week to visit my wonderful daughter on the Coast. It was her first time hosting one of the parents and she did a great job. The apartment was cleaned from top to bottom. Her roomie was away and we just lazed around, did some window shopping, lunched with friends, had dinner prepared by her boyfriend, sat in the sun, went for a drive, drank some wine, watched movies and generally behaved well. While I was with J I also had a chance to visit the library staff and hug a few friends. There was a wonderful Garden Party that I was invited to and I could catch up with my colleagues from work. Lots of sun, food and good people. Then there was "girls' night" with close friends. It was sooooo good to see them; we started to meet evenings for wine, supper and movies and I miss that so much. And I spent a glorious Sunday morning at VV with D. D also joined J and I when we did some shopping; it was a great time.
Getting to the Coast was an adventure....travelling is always an adventure for me. It's not the travelling that makes me anxious, it's the leaving. Never have been good at that. When Bill delivered me to the bus station and I started to get a little sniffly as I walked across the tarmac to my doom, Bill called out: "Remember, this isn't a punishment, it's a holiday." Well, I had to laugh then. It sort of broke the ice. Onto the bus I got and somehow I survived. It was a great journey as I love the Canyons and took some great shots of the Thompson! C, my sister was there to meet at 9pm (7 hours! although there were only 8 people on the bus all the way to Langley then all heck broke loose) and I stayed with my sister and brother-in-law for two nights then over the pond to J. I returned to my sister's on the way back and spent another 2 nights. It broke the travelling up and allowed me some great times with my family.
B, my brother in law treated me to the Vancouver Art Gallery to see the Dutch Masters; it was wonderful. We learned so much about the Golden Age of the Netherlands and saw some absolutely spectacular art. Highly recommend it to everyone. Then we had lunch at the Gallery Cafe! B is the best host. We had a great time. It's not often I get to spend time with him.
It was so hot in Vancouver! I overheat easily so I have to find ways to cope with the heat. And a wet washcloth does the trick! Although, people thought I was a little strange I'm sure as I would stop in mid stride to whip out the cloth and wipe my arms, neck, face and legs with a cold wet cloth. It was soooo cooling.
On my way back to Deka I spent two nights with C as B was on his own adventure. We went to Steveston and Richmond and relived memories of growing up in that area. Supper at PaJo's (yummy) and then a late evening walk down the Boardwalk. It was gobsmacking how much growth there is in Richmond and Steveston now but they've done a spectacular job with the Boardwalk and the history of the Canneries. All I can say is "do it", it's a great treat. Especially at sunset. We walked a little along the dyke, too, and if you ignore the humongous houses it still is the same beautiful river. A great evening!
Our neighbours came up for some fishing this week and presented us with two beautiful hanging baskets which I will desperately try not to kill. The colours are fantastic and they look great on our home! It was in appreciation of taking care of their poor trailer when the snow collapsed their porch cover and broke two of their windows. All in a day's work as neighbours but I am very grateful for the hanging baskets, I've been craving colour for ages. Thank you A and S!! Not only for the baskets but for being thoughtful, considerate neighbours.
It's been Thunder country for a few days now. It's a love/hate relationship as no one wants the lightning strikes but I love the sound, although the shaking of the house could be a little less. Such noise.
You can tell it's summer as now when you drive you not only have to watch for suicidal deer and potholes that could swallow the largest of honkin' big trucks but we now have to keep a close eye on cattle who stand and chew their cud whilst standing in the middle of the road. Do all cattle chew cud or only cows...I have no idea. Also, I've loaded up on DEET and Raid spirals. Yes, I know, not very environmentally sound but I do NOT like mozzies! In fact, I don't like anything that skitters! This is a skitter free zone!
There have been deer in the front yard in the early morning...not that I've seen them but Bill did while I was on the lam. He also heard an owl during the late evening....is it me?
I've been scavenging again and came home today with a marvellous sign "The Blue Barn"; I left the OPEN sign in the dump as I had visions of people stopping at the house to see what I was selling. J is now rolling her eyes. When she comes up I'll take her for a little scavenge, I'm sure she'll love it.
We are waiting til the end of August for the Deka Lake Convoy...many friends and J and R may also come up. C will of course be at Watch Lake so I'll see her lots.
Looking forward to the Bridge Lake Stampede on June 27th. It should be lots of fun.
And, of course, I have many pictures. Liquor helps if you dare to look at them all.
You may ask why I use initials instead of names; I could make them up but I'd forget who was who. One of my family encouraged me to use initials and I have done so. I forget that this is so open to the public!
Chicken, Noodles and F's Peanut Sauce.
Movie tonight: Spirit
Look out...Pictures!
First big Thunder storm
Bridge Lake and Fascia
An evening on the Lake
Jaye's Adventure
Nature
Our screen door and a little outside
First of all one of us fell when in town and severely damaged their wrist ligament. Both my wrists are fine so I leave it up to you to decide who fell.
It absolutely devastated Bill; he is the main builder on this worksite and without him all comes to a veritable standstill. The air has been blue in the house with many words said about tripping on one's sandals whilst strolling through town. All the months spent climbing up and down ladders with heavy pieces of sheathing, standing on a steep roof and nailing same sheeting on....not a blister!
So we sucked it up and moved on. Bill found he could still manage his two fingered typing so he could work on volume 3 of his Wild Jack series; and it's amazing how you can manage with one hand. He stained the fascia and we managed to get one side of the fascia up....WCB would have been very upset to see us but what the hell, we did it. I was using a rake to hold up the fascia, Bill could use the drill as long as his wrist was straight, then we worked tandem with me standing on the workmate. As long as I didn't move an inch to either side, I lived. Not bad for two old farts. And today we just put up the kitchen screen door without any damage to either of us.
Our siding hasn't been delivered yet which I think would have put us over the edge. Bill would have been looking at the piled siding and getting frustrated. But, we are going to try to put it up once it comes; it will be so much slower but we will do it. Then the deck. So exciting.
I abandoned Bill for a week to visit my wonderful daughter on the Coast. It was her first time hosting one of the parents and she did a great job. The apartment was cleaned from top to bottom. Her roomie was away and we just lazed around, did some window shopping, lunched with friends, had dinner prepared by her boyfriend, sat in the sun, went for a drive, drank some wine, watched movies and generally behaved well. While I was with J I also had a chance to visit the library staff and hug a few friends. There was a wonderful Garden Party that I was invited to and I could catch up with my colleagues from work. Lots of sun, food and good people. Then there was "girls' night" with close friends. It was sooooo good to see them; we started to meet evenings for wine, supper and movies and I miss that so much. And I spent a glorious Sunday morning at VV with D. D also joined J and I when we did some shopping; it was a great time.
Getting to the Coast was an adventure....travelling is always an adventure for me. It's not the travelling that makes me anxious, it's the leaving. Never have been good at that. When Bill delivered me to the bus station and I started to get a little sniffly as I walked across the tarmac to my doom, Bill called out: "Remember, this isn't a punishment, it's a holiday." Well, I had to laugh then. It sort of broke the ice. Onto the bus I got and somehow I survived. It was a great journey as I love the Canyons and took some great shots of the Thompson! C, my sister was there to meet at 9pm (7 hours! although there were only 8 people on the bus all the way to Langley then all heck broke loose) and I stayed with my sister and brother-in-law for two nights then over the pond to J. I returned to my sister's on the way back and spent another 2 nights. It broke the travelling up and allowed me some great times with my family.
B, my brother in law treated me to the Vancouver Art Gallery to see the Dutch Masters; it was wonderful. We learned so much about the Golden Age of the Netherlands and saw some absolutely spectacular art. Highly recommend it to everyone. Then we had lunch at the Gallery Cafe! B is the best host. We had a great time. It's not often I get to spend time with him.
It was so hot in Vancouver! I overheat easily so I have to find ways to cope with the heat. And a wet washcloth does the trick! Although, people thought I was a little strange I'm sure as I would stop in mid stride to whip out the cloth and wipe my arms, neck, face and legs with a cold wet cloth. It was soooo cooling.
On my way back to Deka I spent two nights with C as B was on his own adventure. We went to Steveston and Richmond and relived memories of growing up in that area. Supper at PaJo's (yummy) and then a late evening walk down the Boardwalk. It was gobsmacking how much growth there is in Richmond and Steveston now but they've done a spectacular job with the Boardwalk and the history of the Canneries. All I can say is "do it", it's a great treat. Especially at sunset. We walked a little along the dyke, too, and if you ignore the humongous houses it still is the same beautiful river. A great evening!
Our neighbours came up for some fishing this week and presented us with two beautiful hanging baskets which I will desperately try not to kill. The colours are fantastic and they look great on our home! It was in appreciation of taking care of their poor trailer when the snow collapsed their porch cover and broke two of their windows. All in a day's work as neighbours but I am very grateful for the hanging baskets, I've been craving colour for ages. Thank you A and S!! Not only for the baskets but for being thoughtful, considerate neighbours.
It's been Thunder country for a few days now. It's a love/hate relationship as no one wants the lightning strikes but I love the sound, although the shaking of the house could be a little less. Such noise.
You can tell it's summer as now when you drive you not only have to watch for suicidal deer and potholes that could swallow the largest of honkin' big trucks but we now have to keep a close eye on cattle who stand and chew their cud whilst standing in the middle of the road. Do all cattle chew cud or only cows...I have no idea. Also, I've loaded up on DEET and Raid spirals. Yes, I know, not very environmentally sound but I do NOT like mozzies! In fact, I don't like anything that skitters! This is a skitter free zone!
There have been deer in the front yard in the early morning...not that I've seen them but Bill did while I was on the lam. He also heard an owl during the late evening....is it me?
I've been scavenging again and came home today with a marvellous sign "The Blue Barn"; I left the OPEN sign in the dump as I had visions of people stopping at the house to see what I was selling. J is now rolling her eyes. When she comes up I'll take her for a little scavenge, I'm sure she'll love it.
We are waiting til the end of August for the Deka Lake Convoy...many friends and J and R may also come up. C will of course be at Watch Lake so I'll see her lots.
Looking forward to the Bridge Lake Stampede on June 27th. It should be lots of fun.
And, of course, I have many pictures. Liquor helps if you dare to look at them all.
You may ask why I use initials instead of names; I could make them up but I'd forget who was who. One of my family encouraged me to use initials and I have done so. I forget that this is so open to the public!
Chicken, Noodles and F's Peanut Sauce.
Movie tonight: Spirit
Look out...Pictures!
First big Thunder storm
Bridge Lake and Fascia
An evening on the Lake
Jaye's Adventure
Nature
Our screen door and a little outside
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Four weeks from Summer Solstice
We are gobsmacked but I presume we shouldn't be. We woke up this morning to about an inch of snow!!! For heaven's sakes. Well, that puts staining the fascia boards on hold for a few days. And they are still forecasting 10 degrees today. The freezing level must be really low for it to snow. Costa Rica looks mighty fine today.
I made it through the first long weekend without any major harm to myself or others. That's all I'm going to say except that I'm very grateful for our neighbours.
We had our fascia boards delivered and began to stain them. They should be up next week and then the gutters. It's on hold right now as the weather became a little damp and colder. Our channel siding will come next week and we can start on that; we bought our cedar shakes from a local business and are very pleased with the quality. The shakes will go on the gable ends.
The mudding of course continues; Bill is also working on the third volume of his Wild Jack trilogy. He's had the new cover of the re-issue of The Journey sent to him and it's great! So all is well for him in the publishing world. The Interlakes store and the Country Peddlar sell his books. The Country Peddlar also sells Bill's cds along with his books and this weekend was good for sales!
On Saturday we went to the first Tailgate Flea Market at the Rodeo Grounds. It wasn't too bad, it just needed more people selling but they'll do it again in the Fall. It was also Bake Sale time for the Ladies Auxiliary for the Deka Lake FD; we picked up the most wonderful cinnamon buns and a Pineapple loaf that we have waiting for us in the freezer. We did try to go to the local store but one look inside sent me away. Too many people.
Well, it stopped snowing! That had better be the end of it.
I made it through the first long weekend without any major harm to myself or others. That's all I'm going to say except that I'm very grateful for our neighbours.
We had our fascia boards delivered and began to stain them. They should be up next week and then the gutters. It's on hold right now as the weather became a little damp and colder. Our channel siding will come next week and we can start on that; we bought our cedar shakes from a local business and are very pleased with the quality. The shakes will go on the gable ends.
The mudding of course continues; Bill is also working on the third volume of his Wild Jack trilogy. He's had the new cover of the re-issue of The Journey sent to him and it's great! So all is well for him in the publishing world. The Interlakes store and the Country Peddlar sell his books. The Country Peddlar also sells Bill's cds along with his books and this weekend was good for sales!
On Saturday we went to the first Tailgate Flea Market at the Rodeo Grounds. It wasn't too bad, it just needed more people selling but they'll do it again in the Fall. It was also Bake Sale time for the Ladies Auxiliary for the Deka Lake FD; we picked up the most wonderful cinnamon buns and a Pineapple loaf that we have waiting for us in the freezer. We did try to go to the local store but one look inside sent me away. Too many people.
Well, it stopped snowing! That had better be the end of it.
Monday, 11 May 2009
May10, 2009
Finally, we woke up this morning to find that the little bit of ice and snow has GONE.
Yes, it is a turning point for Deka Lake. The ice left the lake earlier this year, too. Last year there were still large areas of snow on the property when they began to dig the foundation.
Did you know that the ice sinks? I didn't. I just assumed it 'melted' but nope---it sinks. You can drive to the store with the ice still on the lake and when you return, poof-gone. It breaks away from the land, cracks in all sorts of places and sinks. So neat. Nice to see the water again. It's such a wonderful turquoise when the ice is just beneath the surface.
Voting tomorrow! Everybody get out and vote. It's good exercise in all sorts of ways. And I don't mean 'futility'.
Canucks? I wonder.
Yes, it is a turning point for Deka Lake. The ice left the lake earlier this year, too. Last year there were still large areas of snow on the property when they began to dig the foundation.
Did you know that the ice sinks? I didn't. I just assumed it 'melted' but nope---it sinks. You can drive to the store with the ice still on the lake and when you return, poof-gone. It breaks away from the land, cracks in all sorts of places and sinks. So neat. Nice to see the water again. It's such a wonderful turquoise when the ice is just beneath the surface.
Voting tomorrow! Everybody get out and vote. It's good exercise in all sorts of ways. And I don't mean 'futility'.
Canucks? I wonder.
Sunday, 10 May 2009
Dig-Dig-Digger is back home and loving every minute of it. G brought him over in a carrier late afternoon on April 30. I met G out on the road; we talked a bit about Digger. It seems something clicked in that small brain of Digger's when he saw us and he spent the night sleeping with G, something he never did. We are forever grateful to G for the care and love he gave to Digger!
The furball needed a major grooming; he smelled of diesel and his coat was soooo thick. He is part Norwegian Forest Cat and his coat probably saved his life. It's like spun silk, doesn't matt and is water repellent. At this moment, he smells better and looks like he actually has a home now. It's been two weeks and he's ventured outside (after much sniffing of the air) maybe two, three times and after less than five minutes is frantically trying to get back in. Digger is quite happy to be a house cat for the time being.
The roads, lordy, the roads! We've already put many dollars into our poor car due to the horrendous condition of the secondary and tertiary roads here. It seems the Horse Lake and Mahood Lake roads will be re-surfaced this summer! Until then it looks like you just drive down the road like a drunk trying to miss the craters. So many pot holes, so few struts and axles.
It was Mother's Day today and I was treated royally; long, lovely phone calls from J2 and J1 came bearing gifts and for a visit; I adore both of them, they are so different but such great, loving adults. Bill of course, treated me as always, with breakfast, lunch and dinner. And he slept through the movie I chose. And, to top it off, a visit to the dump.
We are becoming quite the scavengers; there is so much good wood that people throw out and we use for kindling. I guess the time to cut it up is daunting or they are construction crews getting rid of ends. Whatever, we make use of it. I also (J2 is now getting the commitment papers ready) picked up a kitschy wrought iron cat that someone fell out of love with. It's in the trees looking very whimsical. Well, I think so. It goes with the lime green wrought iron garden chair.
The house is progressing inside and we just made the order for the siding, sills, trim--inside and out. Bill thinks it should take a week to do the siding and I look forward to putting aside the mudding to help out. It will look so nice; we had the colours picked out for the exterior paint---when I showed them again to Bill he said "those are the colours?"....Okay, maybe it will take more time
The mudding goes. It's so tedious; I can't stand it; it gives me heart palpitations; I swear A LOT; bother. I'm in the kitchen right now and there are two more coats to do. Did I mention I hate mudding?
Bill moved his desk and computer into his study/second bedroom; so that shows the master bedroom to be huuuuuuge now. He's going to rough in the closet soon. We went to Kamloops recently to choose tiles for the shower and other random things that 100 Mile cannot provide. It was a one day affair as I didn't want to waste money on a motel. We even got a visit in to VV; oh, how I miss my Sunday morning church of VV!!! One of the shocks of driving to Kamloops was the overwhelming greenness once you drove into Little Fort!!! It was shocking; lime green, olive green, dark green, light green...and on it goes. So much green. And there were flowers growing on the hills. It was another world; obviously, I needed a break.
There are sooo many deer around now. They are beautiful and serene and totally careless of traffic. Not only are you trying to miss craters on the road but also need to keep your eye on suicidal deer. Then soon enough we'll have to keep a lookout for cattle. They aren't suicidal just slow and large and stubborn. It does keep you doing the speed limit. Well, some keep it.
This coming weekend marks the beginning of the tourist crowd coming up to Deka. It becomes very busy (how many ATVs can there be in the world?) and it makes a major change in the dynamics here. It's the old Townies/Gownies scenario. Ourselves, we are expecting friends to join us at the end of summer plus J2 and my sister (Yay)! We look forward to that very much. Lots of laughter, food and wine coming up.
It's been a year since Bill came up and with good friends and relatives built one solid home. The house is my design and it seems to be working well so far. There are minor things that I would change but nothing serious. I cannot believe what a few "old" farts have put together. Take a bow, everyone.
I give the snow one last day! and then I'm taking out the hair dryer. The mud hasn't been too bad either but then the rains haven't begun. I think that happens in June; plus the bugs. Must get a supply of DEET.
Mother's Day
Bill's Burgers (Ohhhh, so good)
Inspector Lewis
The furball needed a major grooming; he smelled of diesel and his coat was soooo thick. He is part Norwegian Forest Cat and his coat probably saved his life. It's like spun silk, doesn't matt and is water repellent. At this moment, he smells better and looks like he actually has a home now. It's been two weeks and he's ventured outside (after much sniffing of the air) maybe two, three times and after less than five minutes is frantically trying to get back in. Digger is quite happy to be a house cat for the time being.
The roads, lordy, the roads! We've already put many dollars into our poor car due to the horrendous condition of the secondary and tertiary roads here. It seems the Horse Lake and Mahood Lake roads will be re-surfaced this summer! Until then it looks like you just drive down the road like a drunk trying to miss the craters. So many pot holes, so few struts and axles.
It was Mother's Day today and I was treated royally; long, lovely phone calls from J2 and J1 came bearing gifts and for a visit; I adore both of them, they are so different but such great, loving adults. Bill of course, treated me as always, with breakfast, lunch and dinner. And he slept through the movie I chose. And, to top it off, a visit to the dump.
We are becoming quite the scavengers; there is so much good wood that people throw out and we use for kindling. I guess the time to cut it up is daunting or they are construction crews getting rid of ends. Whatever, we make use of it. I also (J2 is now getting the commitment papers ready) picked up a kitschy wrought iron cat that someone fell out of love with. It's in the trees looking very whimsical. Well, I think so. It goes with the lime green wrought iron garden chair.
The house is progressing inside and we just made the order for the siding, sills, trim--inside and out. Bill thinks it should take a week to do the siding and I look forward to putting aside the mudding to help out. It will look so nice; we had the colours picked out for the exterior paint---when I showed them again to Bill he said "those are the colours?"....Okay, maybe it will take more time
The mudding goes. It's so tedious; I can't stand it; it gives me heart palpitations; I swear A LOT; bother. I'm in the kitchen right now and there are two more coats to do. Did I mention I hate mudding?
Bill moved his desk and computer into his study/second bedroom; so that shows the master bedroom to be huuuuuuge now. He's going to rough in the closet soon. We went to Kamloops recently to choose tiles for the shower and other random things that 100 Mile cannot provide. It was a one day affair as I didn't want to waste money on a motel. We even got a visit in to VV; oh, how I miss my Sunday morning church of VV!!! One of the shocks of driving to Kamloops was the overwhelming greenness once you drove into Little Fort!!! It was shocking; lime green, olive green, dark green, light green...and on it goes. So much green. And there were flowers growing on the hills. It was another world; obviously, I needed a break.
There are sooo many deer around now. They are beautiful and serene and totally careless of traffic. Not only are you trying to miss craters on the road but also need to keep your eye on suicidal deer. Then soon enough we'll have to keep a lookout for cattle. They aren't suicidal just slow and large and stubborn. It does keep you doing the speed limit. Well, some keep it.
This coming weekend marks the beginning of the tourist crowd coming up to Deka. It becomes very busy (how many ATVs can there be in the world?) and it makes a major change in the dynamics here. It's the old Townies/Gownies scenario. Ourselves, we are expecting friends to join us at the end of summer plus J2 and my sister (Yay)! We look forward to that very much. Lots of laughter, food and wine coming up.
It's been a year since Bill came up and with good friends and relatives built one solid home. The house is my design and it seems to be working well so far. There are minor things that I would change but nothing serious. I cannot believe what a few "old" farts have put together. Take a bow, everyone.
I give the snow one last day! and then I'm taking out the hair dryer. The mud hasn't been too bad either but then the rains haven't begun. I think that happens in June; plus the bugs. Must get a supply of DEET.
Mother's Day
Bill's Burgers (Ohhhh, so good)
Inspector Lewis
Saturday, 25 April 2009
The last two weeks
The last two weeks have been wonderful.
The thaw started and we were outside taking down the skirt around the house (see: Evil Frost), listening to the melting snow on the roof, seeing the colour brown, meeting many deer, woodpeckers, chopping wood, taking the tarp and roof off the camper and leaving only one tarp on, muttering about gumbo, and my ultimate favourite activity: scavenging! Yay!
The pictures say it all but we enjoyed our excursion to the Cariboo Mall to scavenge for some lumber. We wanted to create a temp path over the gumbo so that we could safely navigate from the front door to the van without losing our boots in the mud. It does happen. It was a sunny day as usual. When we entered the dump there was someone burning the very, very old wood products in a large container. The heat was intense. We skirted round the fire and made our way to the back. And there was our answer! Someone had kindly removed their old deck and put it in the dump. Excellent. We loaded up as much as the old girl could handle on the roof racks (that's me and the car) and brought it home. On the way home we passed my son and his friend; I believe they were laughing a lot. Then we had to unload! We decided to go back for another few pieces. It made a deck from the front door and up the side.
When we were in the dump we drove past some wonderful 4x10s with massive spikes in them and commented on them. After a cup of tea or two we decided to check the next day to see if they were still there (so much competition). And they were. So, another shoulder breaking load was lifted on the van (poor thing) and we brought it all home. We now have a good walkway (albeit a little tippy) to the car. Lovely. Recycling at its best.
We have quite a bit of spruce and pine in large burls at the front of the property and Bill has spent a lot of time and sweat splitting them. The spruce is wonderful; it burns fast but creates a lovely heat.
One of his other many projects was to build a shelving unit over the stove; the fan pipe needed to be covered and I wanted a particular design for the shelves. They are only for decorative bowls, etc. Another job was to create an outdoor workshop so that he could move his tools outside and start building shelves, counters, cupboards, etc. We put up the tarp between 4 trees and we think it will serve him well.
During this time I also marked out the property a little better (never perfect but it gives one an idea) so that when we build the wood shed on the east side we aren't on our neighbour's property....always good not to cross boundaries. It was a little frustrating going through bush and lining posts up but I did it. I still have nightmares that someone is going to come and say we are on the wrong lot. Bill and my son just roll their eyes. Well, it's happened! A few times. Anyways, nothing wrong in double checking everything.
And then it SNOWED! Can you freakin' believe it? My Aunt in Saskatoon always, always said that there is one last snowfall after Easter...no matter when Easter is. I am gobsmacked. But, thankfully it is melting immediately on the roads and car but the whole property is white again, no brown...and my poor Mungo!
In between all this, we had to replace the axle on the poor little car and we now have found out the wheel bearings need help. The roads out here have done their damage. Thankfully, the Horse Lake and Mahood roads are going to be upgraded this summer. Woohoo!
So, I sit waiting for Digger. I'm not sure if G will be able to get him in a crate. When I picked him up he had muscle power he never had before and it was hard then to get him in a crate. We shall see. C'mon home you silly pussycat!
Pictures of course; consider yourself let off lightly...I weeded them like a good librarian.
Omelettes with red peppers, green onions and cheese/Asparagus on the side.
Video: Australia
The thaw started and we were outside taking down the skirt around the house (see: Evil Frost), listening to the melting snow on the roof, seeing the colour brown, meeting many deer, woodpeckers, chopping wood, taking the tarp and roof off the camper and leaving only one tarp on, muttering about gumbo, and my ultimate favourite activity: scavenging! Yay!
The pictures say it all but we enjoyed our excursion to the Cariboo Mall to scavenge for some lumber. We wanted to create a temp path over the gumbo so that we could safely navigate from the front door to the van without losing our boots in the mud. It does happen. It was a sunny day as usual. When we entered the dump there was someone burning the very, very old wood products in a large container. The heat was intense. We skirted round the fire and made our way to the back. And there was our answer! Someone had kindly removed their old deck and put it in the dump. Excellent. We loaded up as much as the old girl could handle on the roof racks (that's me and the car) and brought it home. On the way home we passed my son and his friend; I believe they were laughing a lot. Then we had to unload! We decided to go back for another few pieces. It made a deck from the front door and up the side.
When we were in the dump we drove past some wonderful 4x10s with massive spikes in them and commented on them. After a cup of tea or two we decided to check the next day to see if they were still there (so much competition). And they were. So, another shoulder breaking load was lifted on the van (poor thing) and we brought it all home. We now have a good walkway (albeit a little tippy) to the car. Lovely. Recycling at its best.
We have quite a bit of spruce and pine in large burls at the front of the property and Bill has spent a lot of time and sweat splitting them. The spruce is wonderful; it burns fast but creates a lovely heat.
One of his other many projects was to build a shelving unit over the stove; the fan pipe needed to be covered and I wanted a particular design for the shelves. They are only for decorative bowls, etc. Another job was to create an outdoor workshop so that he could move his tools outside and start building shelves, counters, cupboards, etc. We put up the tarp between 4 trees and we think it will serve him well.
During this time I also marked out the property a little better (never perfect but it gives one an idea) so that when we build the wood shed on the east side we aren't on our neighbour's property....always good not to cross boundaries. It was a little frustrating going through bush and lining posts up but I did it. I still have nightmares that someone is going to come and say we are on the wrong lot. Bill and my son just roll their eyes. Well, it's happened! A few times. Anyways, nothing wrong in double checking everything.
And then it SNOWED! Can you freakin' believe it? My Aunt in Saskatoon always, always said that there is one last snowfall after Easter...no matter when Easter is. I am gobsmacked. But, thankfully it is melting immediately on the roads and car but the whole property is white again, no brown...and my poor Mungo!
In between all this, we had to replace the axle on the poor little car and we now have found out the wheel bearings need help. The roads out here have done their damage. Thankfully, the Horse Lake and Mahood roads are going to be upgraded this summer. Woohoo!
So, I sit waiting for Digger. I'm not sure if G will be able to get him in a crate. When I picked him up he had muscle power he never had before and it was hard then to get him in a crate. We shall see. C'mon home you silly pussycat!
Pictures of course; consider yourself let off lightly...I weeded them like a good librarian.
Omelettes with red peppers, green onions and cheese/Asparagus on the side.
Video: Australia
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