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.

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.

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