So this is where we live. Few have made the journey out here; maybe they are intimidated by that last 10km stretch of rough road that brings you to our lil oasis?
I think the few who have made the trip will tell you it is well worth it…even having to suffer the Dunny out back.  Yup, it takes a bit of an adjustment, that’s for sure. You have to think of it as Glamping, that’s the best way to describe it? Luke and I are just so used to being out here, are in sync with the Earthship that we don’t even think about it anymore.
I may bellyache from time to time; I am used to having everything clean and tidy and I have found that I have to turn a blind eye to dust, pet hair everywhere, an often overflowing laundry hamper, muddy dog prints EVERYWHERE but I get the job done when the Batts are well charged. Imagine, I get excited because I get to use the Vacuum Cleaner!!! How many people are EXCITED to vacuum? Crazy, right?

To date I have not had much success with growing our own food. And that saddens me. But I certainly have not given up! I look forward trying again next Spring and hope and pray that the growing season will not be interrupted by wild fires. In the meantime I can try my hand at growing fruit and veg in the Greenhouse. Last year, when we came up, I brought a crap tonne of seedlings from a Chilliwack nursery. I planted them with such hope! Hah!  So you know how Winter days are super short? Turns out  plants really like the sun! And it’s not like I can flip a light on to give them fake sun because, you know, that takes power and we guard that stuff with our lives!

Our lovely lil Earthship sits there on the hill. Well, built into the hill actually. Now, to be clear, we did not build it; it’s often the first thing I am asked when I tell people we live in one, “Did you build it yourselves?” Luke found the listing for an Earthship and since he has always wanted to live in one, here we are! Likely when he first dreamed of living in a such an abode it was to escape the Australian heat; here we burrow into the earth like a bear in a den, to settle for a long Winter sleep. The nights are so long! But as Luke pointed out to me, from December 21 onward, we gain 40 seconds of daylight per day!

The appliances in the kitchen leave a lot to be desired but we must be thankful to have a propane stove,  fridge and the propane to operate them. Now you  have heard me go on and on about conserving electricity, right? Well, you will also find, in my kitchen, a hundred small electrical appliances! The current fave is my InstaPot; my ALL time fave is the coffeemaker. So the deal is, when the generator is running or the sun is shining use ALL the power you want! That’s when I get super excited because, as stated earlier, it is when I get to do all the housework!

I have to say that the thing I love best about the kitchen is that it is a floor unto itself. Well, I share it with Billabong but he only takes up a small corner over by the table so I am cool with that. When living in civi I often lamented that the dogs were constantly underfoot in the kitchen and left their fur everywhere!  Obviously they still shed like crazy but not in my kitchen anymore! And I love that! I sorta, kinda miss having them underfoot but not enough to invite them in the back door. Okay, okay, I have invited them in the back door! You caught me out! Neither one of them like the steps into the cold room or the cold room itself and since they would have to pass through there? They prefer to keep out. In the collage above you will note the … stairs… Ladder Stairs, really; well, they sure can’t climb up those though I think if Sammy had the right motivation he would find a way up them! He stretches his lithe lil self up the bottom four steps but that is it.

The wrap around views from the kitchen are absolutely amazing! Though the basic landscape remains the same there are subtle changes that occur daily and they are fun to watch for. Obviously watching for wildlife and seeing them is the BEST but another thing that completely inspires me is to see the work that we do. The pushing back of the saplings, clearing the debris, the peekaboo glances of the trails we have built on the east side of the property, the knowing that we cleared the blowdown from a trail down at Moose Hollow, cleared all the saplings from the Boathouse Trail…it’s all back breaking work but so worth it. There is something about working on the land that brings such peace. If only I could coax said earth to sprout forth an abundance of fresh vegetables, we would have it made! I am hoping for a better year in the garden this Summer…one thing I have already learned – Do NOT plant in May! Not at all! We got a frost in early June that did not do my lil seedlings any good, at all! I was going by my paternal grandmother’s rule of thumb to plant after the May long weekend…doesn’t work where we live! I think this year I may start seedlings in the Greenhouse and on the ample kitchen window sills before I set the lil fellows out to bask in the outdoor world.

Okay, so one of the biggest drawbacks to living out here, off the grid, is that dang Dunny out back! I’m going to be frank here so stop reading and skip this paragraph but I am gonna spell it out! Now I have not counted the actual steps to the Dunny …weird, actually that I haven’t!…but that is a long fricken walk when you GOTTA go! You’re fine if it is just water works that are screaming at you because, you know, we have a bucket at the far end of the Greenhouse for that; we usually only use that in the dead of night when you can’t see your hand 15 centimetres in front of your face. During the day, you will often find Luke just peeing over the edge. Oh, hell, I am not opposed to doing that either! Beats trying to run up the hill with a bladder, ready to burst! Okay, here comes the messy bit. You get up, you have that morning cuppa coffee, you’re settled in front of the fire all cozy like and then it hits you…I gotta go. The first nudgings are subtle but we have learned that you get up and start acting on that PRONTO! You see, in the Winter? Well, first off you have to brave that ice cold toilet seat which your legs often stick to! So you have THAT mental block but again, those first subtle nudges you get up, you get dressed, you layer up, you put on your boots, hat, gloves  then pry the frozen door open and you want to run, because now you really have to go but you can’t run because, well, because it’s slippery and icy or knee deep in snow that needs to be shovelled when the sun comes up and here’s the most important reason why you can’t run…if you do, you just might not make it! Trust me, I have had more than my fair share of close calls!

If you skipped that paragraph, it is safe to continue reading the remaining missive. So anyway, to combat the Dunny run, Luke’s dad built us a lovely, convenient lil Dunny to house the composting toilet. It’s a work in progress. It WAS so lovely the handful of times that we did use it before it all came unglued….not literally, just we’ve had a few hiccoughs we have yet to work out…one of which is to build a false floor for it to rest upon so that we can get proper drainage. Live and learn, right? I look forward to the day I no longer have to a) have my legs frozen to the toilet seat b) no longer have to attempt a run to the dunny when bursting to go. Project One for Spring/Summer 2018

We bought a lovely second bed. If you’ve read previous posts or you know me you know that I do not sleep well. It’s a Schmidbauer thing. It’s been a lifelong battle. My dad, bless his soul, would ALWAYS say, “If you’re awake and you can’t go back to sleep in 30-60 seconds then get up and DO something! Be productive! Don’t waste valuable time laying around “in the fart sack” <- his words, not mine! Dad would often be up at 3 or 4 in the morning, drinking his black coffee, smoking his Sportsman Filters, wrapped in his bathrobe, yellow notepad on the table, pen in hand, and writing, writing, writing; one page of his musings would be his ominous To Do List for the day and then he would carry on and write about? About what? Once both my parents had passed away I found, tucked away, a letter my Dad wrote to my Mother about the perils my life would succumb to if Mother didn’t have THAT talk with me. She didn’t. I survived but I suppose my life may have been a bit easier if someone had had some kind of talk with me. S’all good, I sorted it out soon enough. PS Dad, it’s okay for Dad’s to have that TALK with their daughters too, you know. Just saying.
Oh yea, I was talking about sleep! So yea, I don’t sleep well. Maybe 3 – 4 hours, tops; then I find myself beating up the pillows, tugging the blankets, this way and that, kicking my feet and generally just being impossible to sleep next to so I get up and you know, get productive! Okay, that worked in civi but I can’t just start doing stuff out here because most of what I enjoy doing requires power: turn the lights on, knit, read, cook/bake, clean…yes, clean, in the small hours. Being limited, I do what I can: get the coffeemaker ready to run, make a fire, light a bunch of candles and settle into the recliner with my Kindle or iPad to read. Oh, and play Scrabble! Now if I have had only 1 – 2 hours sleep I will often try to go back to sleep but not in the bed. Prior to the purchase of the second bed I would try to curl up on the loveseat and though I am short, I’m not that short! I moved to the recliner which was heaps more comfortable but kind of bumpy and lumpy in all the wrong places. Now I have a second bed to retire to;  even if I don’t go back to sleep, at least I am resting and Luke says that is important.

So the final two shots are of the Chilko River where we collect drinking water. We do have a great well out here but it’s not the best TASTING water. The Chilko water tastes heaps better! We were diligent about collecting drinking water from the river until the forest fires happened. It seems like a switch went off after the fires and we have not had water from the river since. When we came back to the Earthship once William’s Lake was allowed back in, we brought water with us. Every time we went into William’s Lake after that, we got water at one of the water outlets. And then we were back in the Fraser Valley for Bear’s operation; we brought water back with us again. And then all the post operation vet trips – easy enough just to fill the water bottles when we went into town. I reckon once we have truly settled back into life at the Earthship and Bear is well and truly on the road to rehabilitation we will return to the Chilko for our water.  In the meantime, I suppose Luke is enjoying the break from having to put his hands into the cold running water of the glacier river.

With that, I will bid you, Adieu. I have truly neglected this blog. New Year’s resolution is to write more often even if they are only short posts. Until I get caught up, they will be photo compilations with a bit of writing.

Happy New Year, everyone! Treat each other, and Mother Earth, with love and respect, always.

Just some photos of my day helping the neighbour with his cattle and it just happened to be my birthday. It was absolutely fabulous to feel useful for a few hours.
Clifford drove the cattle up the road from his place and I took over at Murray Taylor. He was on horseback, Samwise Gamgee and I were in the truck.

There was a troublesome white fella, with horns who caused me a bit of concern. He took the herd off the road for a drink and a munch on some snow covered … grass…if you can call it that? Long grass. Dead looking grass. Shrug, they seemed to like it. I wondered for a bit if I could just leave them there? But we hadn’t been on the road that long. I decided to carry along down the road to the cattleguard that Clifford told me about; see how far away we were from their destination.

Yea, so got to the cattleguard a further 3 kilometres along. Argh. Couldn’t really see how to turn around because you know, I’m a bit of a newb; well that and the snow was pretty deep so I couldn’t really see where the ditch was, if there was a ditch? I have only been down the Tsuniah Lake road a few times, once completely by accident, so I don’t really have any landmarks memorized. So  I carried along, looking for the one big open spot I knew of where I could turn around; that was a long drive! Well, not that long – let’s just say that by the time I got back to the cattle my reset odometer read fourteen point something kilometres. Oh, and can I just say? So thankful the road was mostly frozen and covered in 15 centimetres of snow because man, there were a few dodgy spots that had they been muck? Not sure I would have carried on! I have this weird fear of water and yes, deep water and muck in puddles counts as water in my books!

Anyway, I got back to the cattle and realized I was going to have to …shoo…them along. They had hopped off road, were in a tight little bunch, munching away on their snack. Now Clifford said that I could maybe throw a stick in their direction to move ’em along, holler at ’em but my baseball arm isn’t what it used to be…
I broke a branch off a fallen tree that added about a metre to my height; leashed up Samwise Gamgee and got him out of the truck and the two of us, with some trepidation on my part, approached the herd of cattle. The odd one looked up at us and then went back to snacking.  Okay…SPEAK, Sammy!  What a good dog! He spoke. And he stuck to my side, for which I was thankful; Sammy often has a mind of his own and takes off, chasing down shadows so I was super impressed with his behaviour. Good dog!
Feeling confident with Sammy at my side I approached the cattle, swinging my stick in the air ( reminded me of warding off freakin’ horrid Aussie magpies…really dislike those birds!) giving a whoop and a holler, ” Come on, move along! Woot, woot!” Most un-cowboy like herding words I’m sure but hey, I got them moving! One by one they picked their way back up to the road; just two young gentlemen remained and they were giving me the supreme stare down…just glad they didn’t have horns! Sammy barked at them and they disdainfully joined the rest of the group up on the road.

I followed them as they made their way up the road. They naturally seemed to know where they were meant to be; I didn’t panic when they decided to leave the road again about half a kilometre from the cattleguard because, having just driven that stretch of road, I knew there wasn’t an opening closer to the cattleguard. Our job done Sammy and I headed back towards home. I have to say that I have always loved cows; they have such beautiful, big, soulful eyes! And their lashes! So, so beautiful! My Dad used to sell Pacific Harvesters back in the day so we got to see dairy cows, up close and personal, throughout the Fraser Valley.  I was very pleased to meet Clifford and Allyson’s cow earlier this year, never dreaming that I would get to lend them a hand! So pleased they asked.

Anyway, I remembered hearing Luke speaking with Clifford about needing to lay tracks over the hoof tracks the cattle had just made so I passed our turn off and continued on down along the road, smoothing out our tracks before the hoof tracks froze solid making for a bumpy ride. Oh, I should mention that now that the roads are frozen and snow covered? Much nicer to drive on! Still a few big puddle areas where you have to take the dips slow but no more sinking up to the chassis in muck! Not sure if our Caribou prefers the sloppy muck or the frozen underbelly?

Anyway, it was a gorgeous sunny day and I loved giving the neighbour a hand.
Hope you enjoy the photos.

On a whim I ran down to the Fraser Valley for Father’s Day weekend. Oh no, wait. I think that was the trip made expressly to have an ultrasound done. On my thyroid. Yea, that’s it. Who was I to say, Nope, not going to be able to make that appointment; never mind that they finally had an appointment for me…it was only booked in September 2016!!!
Anyway, a trip to the Valley means a visit with the kids and grandkids so I am totally fine with it…even the long drive. And this long drive was made even longer because as soon as I arrived in Chilliwack I hopped back IN the vehicle again ( thankfully our son Ryan drove!)  to take in Grandson Maxwell’s year end band performance at WJ Mouat. Man, did that bring back memories! Maxwell’s Maman, Anita, was also in Band – Concert and Jazz.

It was a whirlwind visit, over before it began it seemed but all good because I brought Benny and Alex home with me! It’s been a while since I have done a long haul trip with littles on board.  I recall  toddler Benny being as good a traveller as Bear and was hoping toddler Alex would be a much better passenger. Thankfully he slept most of the way to Williams Lake but not Benny. Oh my! Such a talker!
Five and half hours after leaving the Valley we pulled into the Best Western. As luck would have it, I had two very wide awake kids to contend with. All good. We went out for a little walk up the big hill which went very well but then, you know, we had to come back down the hill and of course Granny sourced a short cut but the hill was … epically steep…heh, I had Alex on my hip, sometimes accompanied by Benny, but dang it! We conquered that Hill together! And then an exhausted Granny took the very energetic littles for a swim in the pool at the hotel. Both grandsons slept very well that night! ( read, all night long, Kristina)

Going down…

Now I can’t tell you all the stuff we got up to while the Grandsons were visiting but there were definitely a lot of stories read, a lot of snuggles and we even found time to do some baking. Benny LOVES Croissants and actually quickly polished off the dozen we bought at the grocery store in Williams Lake so we rolled up our sleeves and made some more!

As well as asking for Croissants, Benny always wants eggs and bacon for Breakfast. Sometimes he makes a Breakfast Croissandwich, sometimes he doesn’t and, unlike his Maman, he loves tomatoes! Yay, Benny!

With the boys tearing up and down the trails Grandpa built, playing with all kinds of rocks and sticks of course they are going to uh, collect a bit of dust, and need a BATH. Too bad we don’t have one of those! We have one of those annoying little all-in-one shower inserts which I really, really, really dislike; it’s next on the reno list! But, well, you know, I can’t just chuck the boys in the lake: for one, there are too many mozzies feasting on the tender lil fellas and two, they would just get filthy on the way back up from the lake. Solution? Fill the laundry basket with water and bathe them in that! Alex thought it was great fun and made it look so appealing that Benny opted to hop in too even though he is an old hand at showers.

Benny was so good at finding things to do while Grandpa had to sit at his computer and work but he loved it best when Grandpa could take him out in the boat and go fishing. Even though that really just meant a lot of tangled fishing line. Even though that meant a long, hot walk down to the Boathouse. Even though that meant getting eaten alive by the starving mozzies!
And then Luke made the mistake of driving old Blue down to the Boathouse due to time constraints…oh, I think that was the day that Benny requested that he go fishing with Grandpa AND we go for ice cream! Benny wanted hang up his sneakers and DRIVE down to the Boathouse for EVERY trip after that!
Can’t find any photos of that:
We drove to Nimpo Lake store for Ice Cream! Normally a 6 hour drive and I won’t even tell you how long it took with two littles and two dogs on board! OMG, is all I am going to say about that…and I will add that they didn’t even get Ice Cream…they got $0.25 Freezies!!!!  Oh, and that is when the Miner Lake fire started. Benny thought the planes flying back and forth with water buckets were pretty cool. Enough said about THAT.

Now with two littles in the house there was a lot more cooking and cleaning happening so Granny didn’t have a lot of time for adventuring BUT I did agree to camping out in the tent with Benny and he thought that was the BEST thing EVER! So easy to impress. And we read stories. And we talked. And we read stories by flashlight. And we wrestled with the dogs to some and sleep with us. And he made up great stories. And he slept, like an angel beneath the stars.

A bit of back story…bear with me. We got Bear in May 2011 and then came Benny in February 2012 so Benny has always known and loved Bear. Then Samwise Gamgee joined us in December 2012 and baby Benny thought puppy Sammy was the greatest thing since sliced bread!  Long and short of it is, Benny grew up with Bear and Sam. Enter baby Alex in 2015 and Bear and Sam are now big dogs! Big, scary dogs for a lil tiny boy. The grandsons were with us for almost three weeks and by the end of it Alex, through watching his brother Benny, came to realize that Bear and Sam make great pillows, are great for giving hugs to, can easily be coerced into giving lots of wet, slobbery kisses to lil boys covered in crumbs and are heaps of fun to go on walks with. Bear and Sam both perk up when we ask them, “Where’s Benny?? Where’s the baby??”

While it was all fun and games for Benny, Alex and Granny,  Grandpa still had to make Kibble money so it was our job to stay out of Grandpa’s hair … not difficult to do since a) he doesn’t have much of it and b) both boys loved to hang out in the Crow’s Nest! Prior to their arrival I made a play room for the boys; I tidied up the Crow’s Nest, made it all homey for them,  and moved all the toys upstairs. Grandpa was an old worry wart, forever catastrophizing that someone was going to fall off the deck…he doesn’t even let Bear go up there by himself! Chill, Gramps, we got this! And they loved it! It is where Benny preferred to be if he was not playing Animal Crossing or out on the trails.

Oh, but Alex? Well, throw him a box in the kitchen and he is happy as a …

After two weeks their Maman, Krick, with her Ryan,  came for a few days. There’s an adventure. They chose to use their GPS instead of our detailed directions and they wound up on some dead-fall strewn forest service road that granted them a flat tire! Tire changed they limped out to Kinickinick to use their free wifi, gather themselves together and suss out what to do. They had to limp back to Alexis Creek, drop Krick’s car in the garage where they would order in the tire she needed and find a way to kill time while Luke hopped in the truck and made the long trip out to pick them up. Just goes to show, don’t trust GPS!
(And thank you, Krick and Ryan, for bringing us fresh produce! They did a $300 grocery shop for us in Williams Lake…needless to say, not much of it was cold anymore by the time they got to Brittany Lake!)

They were happy to finally arrive! They had a few days of checking the place out, canoeing, hiking and you know, they were at my place so there was a bit of eating to be done. Their fave was my fresh outta the oven Sourdough Bread! So easy to please!

And that brings us to the end of this post. Please know that you are welcome to drop in anytime! Though we have discovered with our last guests that there should probably be some ground rules in place:

*Think of it as camping….Glamping, if you will
*Ask before you plug something in
*Minimize your impact on Mother Earth; only bio friendly products please and if you are using our supplies, remember how far we have to go to replenish and how much that stuff is going to cost us – that toothpaste you just lined your toothbrush with? $10 a tube for half the size of a tube of Colgate :p
*Shower only when needed; if you didn’t work up a sweat, i’m going to say that a shower prolly isn’t necessary and the Grey Water pond will thank you for your efforts.
*If the Sun didn’t shine today? Be super mindful of the power you use. Luke and I live by candlelight…a lot…it’s kind of romantic.
*Follow protocols in place and if you aren’t sure what they are? ASK.
* And prolly most important? Learn to adapt to the environment you are in. Luke and I have had a year to practice and we are pretty good at it…again, if you aren’t sure, ask.
*We LOVE having you come and visit; and thanks HEAPS for stopping in at the Grocery Store on your way here! We are happy to write up a grocery list, e-transfer you $$ so that we can make your stay as comfortable as possible, with the caveat that our fridge is TINY! So if you are used to consuming a lot of refrigerated products? Yea, not going to happen, sorry.

****Disclaimer: Previous guests only stayed a few days, with the exception of the Grandsons and well, they do what we say, pretty much 😉 We only discovered we needed to make the needs of the Earthship known with guests staying for an extended period of time.  Luke’s parents were here for three weeks and they sorta get the whole water conservation bit, being Australians 😉
Also, we have heaps of well water, it is the used water that causes a bit of a concern.
So there you have it.

Until next time! Cheers!

So yea, it has been a while! So much has happened! So much to tell you! Not sure …. well, here, I’ll start with Bear.
As you may or may not know, we were evacuated from Brittany Lake. Our property has always been safe from fire but Hwy 20 which is our lifeline to civilization has had its woes since the wildfires burst on the scene! Our departure is another story…
While evacuated we stayed with our son and daughter-in-law in Chilliwack. They have a lovely home that they moved into late last year with four bedrooms and a HUGE, fenced backyard. Michael and Hayley graciously allowed us to bring our three animals into their home. We simply cannot express how thankful we are that we were able to keep Bear, Sam and Billabong with us during our time away; we had visions of dropping them all off at a kennel!
During our evacuation we, of course, went out onto some of our fave trails! Why wouldn’t we? Sumallo Grove has long been a favourite one, just inside Manning Park; I can tell you now because it seems everyone else has also discovered the once little used trail! We went there for the peace and solitude, the ability walk, carefree, along the trail with Bear and Sam at arms length; I think I counted 10 vehicles in the carpark when we left after a very stressful walk! But I digress. I started talking about Bear. So here’s the thing, Bear has done this trail a dozen times; it’s flat and there isn’t any deadfall to maneuver so, easy peasy, right? Oh, and it’s relatively short – 7-8 km there and back. Again, easy peasy for our Bear. Well, didn’t he just sit down on the trail halfway back?!  We checked his paws, nothing. It wasn’t a particularly hot day and the trail is almost completely shaded but we offered him water from our water bottles; no go. What the…? We managed to get him moving and slowly made our way back to the truck where we helped the old boy up into the truck. He promptly laid himself down and remained that way until we got back to Chilliwack even though he had a very rambunctious American Mastiff frolicking all over the back of the truck. Ben, our …grand-dog…Michael and Hayley’s giant dog.

Home again and Bear seems to be less and less inclined to move himself. Okay, maybe he is just getting old? Who am I kidding? He is only 6! Through the night he got considerably worse, he wanted to go outside but he couldn’t get up so he got a magic carpet ride aloft his bed. Can I just say, Bear is one heavy dog!  Come the new day we loaded Bear into the truck so Luke could take him into the vet for an emergency visit; at least it was not a four hour drive or the middle of a long weekend. Now I want it to be known that I also take the boys to the vet but it seems that Luke is the “lucky” one who gets to take them in for the difficult visits. You’ll recall his instant Vet Assistant visit with Sam? No, Luke didn’t have to scrub in for a procedure with Bear but he got some sobering news: Don’t expect your dog to be with you for much longer than another year. Wait, what? He’s only 6!!!!! He has CCL – Crucial Cranial Ligament disease, a bit of arthritis and well, he is a big dog. A big dog who sustained a fall down a set of stairs when he was a puppy and the silly vet we were seeing then treated his neck and not his spine. Sigh.

They gave Luke a prescription for pain meds…for Bear, not Luke. The rest of the stay in Chilliwack was difficult for Bear but at least we were able to alleviate some the pain he was in. Upon our arrival back at the Earthship we promptly made a follow up appointment with the Williams Lake vet who basically confirmed what the Chilliwack vet said with the exception that we COULD take Bear to what amounts to an orthopaedic surgeon who could ummm…. shave bits of his …..tibia ….. so his leg wouldn’t slip out of the hip socket? You’ll have to ask Luke. I told the WL Vet, “Yea, so I’m going to need you to talk to my husband because I’m not going to remember or be able to make sense of a single thing you have just told me.” The vet sent me home with more painkillers. Again, for Bear, with naught for me!! What the heck?
Back home after a very long day in the truck – it was a there and back again trip as there was not a single hotel room available in Williams Lake. Seems all the rooms were taken up by firefighters. Oh, yea, it’s still fire season at this time. Hanceville/Riske Creek still had spot fires burning near the highway – very sobering, indeed, to see the devastation caused by the fires. On our drive back up Highway 20,  between the Hanceville/Riske Creek fires and the Alexis Creek fires we came upon a Mama deer and her two fawns,  meandering about on the highway. So lost. So sad to see.

Back to our Bear. Focus. Bear is reduced to walking twenty steps from the Earthship door. This is a dog who has been raised to be on the trail for hours at a time. Don’t tell me this wasn’t having an impact on him. And Samwise Gamgee? How do you walk the trails with one dog but not the other? And Luke’s parents were meant to arrive any day, evacuation orders/alerts pending. Bear is NOT improving, at all. Wait, he managed to walk over to Clarice’s, maybe 200 metres from the Earthship, but it’s an improvement! Luke and I are now worried that Bear’s good leg is going to suffer the same fate as his injured leg so we booked ANOTHER appointment with the Williams Lake vet to have xrays done of ALL of Bear’s legs and joints. May I just interject here that I am a bit of a worry wart? And can we please get Bear into a dog psychotherapist? I will also let you know that our boys have not been seen by the same vet twice in all our trips to and fro! This has contributed to our unease; who knows what, if any, conversations are happening behind closed doors between the plethora of vets who have looked at Bear and Sam? (Thanks, Billabong, for being a healthy kitty!)
Evacuation orders for Kleena Kleene lifted, Luke’s parents arrive and Bear is slowly making progress but not enough to put us at ease so we keep the xray appointment but this time we DO get to stay overnight in Williams Lake! Thank goodness! Bear is a terrible traveller! He is the first to jump in the truck, excited to be on the go and then 3 minutes later is panting and whining – and he doesn’t let up, not once; and he doesn’t lay down; and his panting, whining schnoze is right in your ear as you drive along. Where’s the valium? We’ll each take a dose! Now I am so accustomed to this behaviour but my mother-in-law? Not so much. Oh, yea, she is along for the ride because let’s face it, one can only take the bush for so long right? Luke thought she might like a little bit of retail therapy in Williams Lake. I was  definitely in need of a valium after a very long drive trying to please to very different needs – Bear needs the window open; MIL is from Australia and is used to warmer climes and wouldn’t you know it? It’s freezing cold!  So I have the heat blasting for her and the windows open for him and I arrive in Williams Lake with the worst headache of all time paired with a colossal ear ache from the cold wind constantly battering my left ear and swimmer’s ear in the right from all Bear’s whinging with his snout firmly lodged in my ear.
When Luke and I travel with Bear, it is the non-driving persons responsibility to keep Bear settled; not saying it works but it’s much easier to drive with a second set of hands on deck!

But  anyway, we get into Williams Lake a bit early for our appointment and thankfully the vet takes us in early. I just want to be in the hotel room where Bear can C H I L L. The vet, Dr. Ross, …I don’t know, that might be his name? Is the same vet that stitched our Sammy back together. It’s the first time I have seen this vet and I have to say, I liked him immediately. Not sure what he said but he said it so well that I was almost instantly put at ease and I was able to leave the vet office confident that Bear would be with us for years to come. Once again, I told this vet that he was going to need to have a conversation with Luke because I am simply unable to comprehend/retain difficult news. He sent me home with a pamphlet detailing an expensive surgery that he seemed to think would be a cure all for Bear. Well, Bear will never walk with ease again but apparently with this surgery he will be able to limp along and not be in pain and that is what we want for him; to live a long and healthy life doing what he loves to do. Dr. Ross….I really need to look up his name… likened Bear’s joint issues with something I could comprehend – myself once being an avid hiker – Imagine your knee grinding and slipping out of its socket with each and every step you take. Enough said! Fix it! Take all my money! I cringed, feeling in my own leg the pain that Bear must be enduring.  The long and short of it is that when Luke is in the Valley for a work thing Bear will be having surgery. We hope. The specialist will see him on a Monday and if all the preliminaries go well he will have surgery on Wednesday. Dr. Ross says Bear ought to heal up in time to enjoy Winter on the trails that we have built around the place out at Brittany Lake.

Thanks for stopping in for a visit. I’ll just leave you with a more pleasant photo of our Bear. Keep your fingers crossed for him – that he is eligible for the surgery, that the surgery goes well and that he heals quickly and joins us, once again, on the trails that we all love so much. He has been our constant companion since May 2011; he warms  our hearts and souls with his gentle presence.

I thought I better update you on Sam’s progress; he was given a Green Light when he had his stitches removed! Yay! The two of us drove into William’s Lake, spent the night in a hotel which equals a bath for me and sausages or bacon for Breakfast for Sam! Our fave things about staying in a hotel! I do wish I could use their gym/pool facilities but I can’t leave Sam alone; “in the club with Keaira Lashae”, for the win!
The weather is starting to heat up a lil so that means that I can’t even go grocery shopping because I won’t risk leaving Sam alone in the truck while battling the WL Save on Foods shoppers. And I always get stuck bagging my own groceries when I am there which leaves me very unimpressed-Safeway may soon have all Luke’s hard earned cash!
Anyway! Sam’s vet visit: we arrived 20 minutes early which was a silly thing to do. There was only one vet in that day and a gazillion emergencies! Sam and I waited patiently for 1 3/4 hours before I piped up; the front end staff got me in, within minutes, to a vet tech. So technically Sam wasn’t seen by a vet but did have his stitches removed by the tech. She said they looked really good and I am going to go with that because the week prior we were in seeing the vet to have Sam’s drain removed and he said it all looked good. They did say that we could take Sam’s stitches out if we felt comfortable doing so but I have to tell you, it’s a long, jagged scar and well, we want Sam to love us forever and ever so we thought we would leave the tugging, pulling job to the pros. They gave him a complimentary nail clipping too which is fabulous seeing how he likes to rip his nails off when he is bolting about the woods!
Sad story though. All that waiting in the vets office? One set of dog owners received bad news about their lil fella. And another couple brought in their faithful 12 year old German Shepherd, Cinnamon; she was not going well and her owners decided to do what was best for her which just had everyone in the office sniffling. I held it together until I heard Cinnamon cry out then, the vet came out and SHE had red rimmed eyes! I could not have been a vet!

This is the lane I am learning to love. We have watched it change with the seasons over the past 7 months. I think I can honestly say I prefer it covered with snow and ice: not so bumpy, not mucky, can easily see animal tracks and NOT a dust bowl. I AM getting used to the bumps though and can easily navigate around the really bad spots.
I have driven it many times in the past few months what with returning Benny to his Mum, driving Samwise Gamgee to and from Vet visits, making a “quick” grocery run to Nimpo Lake to make sure Luke has just enough to see him through my absence when I go down to the Valley next week. Honestly,  I thought that sans snow and ice, the drive would be a lil bit quicker but it isn’t! I guess I now drive slower because of all the protruding boulders, loose rocks, wash-board sections and there are still a few big puddles I have to make my way through; that ONE though? Holy moly! She’s getting DEEP! It’s on the unmaintained section of our drive so one just grins and bears it, finds the best way through. At first, yes, it was deep, but then it seemed to be drying out and now? All of a sudden, it is super deep again! I suppose it may have rained and filled up but …well, it’s not that far away from us and here at Brittany Lake,  we have only had a few minutes of spitting rain…apparently we live in the Apple Tree Creek of BC!  (Luke’s home in Australia – the rain always misses ATC too!)
At any rate, I now drive with one set of tires on dry ground leaving the other set to be swallowed whole by the deep maw of the puddle; hope it doesn’t one day “bite” my tyres leaving me stranded in a quagmire of mud until someone comes along the deserted road to rescue me!  I digress; it takes me roughly 1 1/2 hours to get to Highway 20 which is not a whole lot faster than when it was covered with snow and ice! But Highway 20 is definitelyMUCH easier to navigate sans snow and ice.

Spring has finally sprung. And while it may not be super hot, the Greenhouse is definitely heating up! I think we did have a couple of days that saw the mercury hit 26C which made the Greenhouse super hot! Hot enough to make the spinach bolt. I would plant outside but the mozzies are thicker than a winter blanket and, well, it still gets super cold at night. I did plant my hydrangeas out doors and one seems to be limping along while the other, which I cut back, seems to be doing alright. I also planted out my Lupines; same story, one practically dead and the other seems to be alright. I planted out my azalea and…whoa….it has taken a beating! I am seeing some new life at the base of the bush so I really ought to brave the mozzies and cut it back so it doesn’t waste its time sending nutrients and energy to the dead parts. Oh, if the wind picks up today, I’ll do that!  To satisfy your curiosity, the garden on the East side, which gets heaps of sunshine is the side that is crying out for help! The West side garden is fighting the good fight and winning! It gets brilliant afternoon sunshine.
I have yet to plant any veg out of doors. I’m nervous about doing so. I guess it is only a few seeds? Right? Right? While I’m in the Valley next week I will purchase a hoe so I am better equipped to deal with all those weeds that seem to be doing swimmingly well in both gardens! Oh, and I found a lil rhubarb patch! And a couple of fruit trees! Previous owner probably told me about both but it didn’t compute until evidence of each sprouted new life!
I might also mention that the natural fauna is greening up quite nicely! I am forever amazed at the tenacity of alpine flowers! I see lily-like leaves sprouting which have yet to produce a flower; I am super curious to see what they are!  There are also is also an abundance of alpine strawberries; we have our very own Strawberry Flats! (reference to Strawberry Flats in Manning Park which, if you have not visited, you totally should!) I keep trying to avoid stepping upon them but then realize I would not be able to walk anywhere if a few were not to give their lives that I may walk out the front door.

Until next time, then, Cheers!

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

May Long Weekend 2017.

I awoke early Saturday morning. As I looked out upon the very still Creek I thought it would be a great morning for a paddle. Luke has been pulling some late nights so I thought I would let him sleep in a little before rousing him from his well earned slumber. Before going out for a paddle we would need to take Bear and Sam for a walk, tire them out a lil before we locked them up while we made our way to the Boathouse. They are not boat trained, or trained much at all, it seems, as yet; we can’t be taking them out on the canoe only to have them tip us into the Lake as they try to catch the bird flying overhead!
We made our way to the Hill, Sammy on leash as we are still trying to get his left fore paw healed up. We took Bear and Sam to the Vet on Thursday,(which meant 13 long hours in the truck): Sam would hopefully have all his stitches removed and update his vaccinations,   Bear would get his vaccinations updated and provide moral support to Sam. Well, Sam has managed to bolt away a couple of times, thereby ripping his outer layer of stitches; lucky for everyone involved he didn’t do too much damage to the interior stitches! Woot! Luke and I envisioned Sam having his pad opened up AGAIN, restitched and then having to keep him off it for ANOTHER 3 weeks!  On Friday both dogs were feeling a lil hellish from their vaccinations and slept the day away. Good enough. But it gave us all the more reason to get them out for a walk Saturday morning.
We made it to the Hill alright but both Bear and Sam went squirrely on the return trip. Same place they went nutso on Wednesday when I took them out on my own … when we came across the torn up log. Anyway, we cut our walk short; we WERE going to take the new trail over to the Boathouse trail, proceed along the lane down to the D, have a quick duck into Moose Hollow then back home down along the Marsh. We reigned the guys in, got them into the Earthship and just kept them quiet for a few hours to get them calmed down. So much for our paddle.
Sunday morning with both dogs bouncing off the walls, obviously their reaction to their vaccinations has worn off  so they are raring to go as they haven’t had a real walk since Wednesday! We set off to the Hill but we only made it to Clarice’s Bench before both Bear and Sam were off! I had Sam on the leash but there isn’t much I can do when all 35kg of him decides to GOOOOOO!  Seconds later I heard him call out; now I’m unsettled! Something had happened to Sam and I couldn’t see him or really tell where he had gone! I sent Luke after them. He’s the one with the gun!  Bear and Sam weren’t coming back and Luke wasn’t having much success catching up them so I started to run,  knee be damned! Thankfully, before too long Sammy made his way back to Luke, dragging his leash behind him but still no sign of Bear. Sammy was shaking through and through from the chase. I was able to control him well enough to head back towards the Earthship. When Sam and I got to Clarice’s Bench I noticed a bit of blood under Sam’s arm…I called out to Luke that Sam was hurt and I was bringing him home. Bah! I know why I’m NOT a nurse! Once inside I laid Sammy down, bowl of antiseptic water in hand, prepared to clean up the bit of blood and to my horror discovered he had ripped open a great big gash on his ribs and it wasn’t a shallow gash either. Bile rising in my throat, I did the best I could to settle my shaky Sammy, calm myself and clean his wound. Thank god Luke arrived minutes later! I gave the cleaning  job over to Luke; by now Sammy’s wound was leaking blood…thick, deep red blood. I almost passed out at the sight of it.
Long weekend. Miles and miles and miles and even more miles from the Vet that we were just at on Thursday! Luke had put a gauze pad over the wound and turned Sammy over to me to wrap in a bandage I had made from a ripped up sheet. Luke put in a call to the Vet and  they hummed and hawed about the best course of action. Luke and I could only really see the long gash; we didn’t really know the extent or  depth of the puncture wound Sammy had sustained. Once I got Sammy wrapped up I nervously started packing an overnight bag, determined to bring my boy to the Vet then and there…well, it would be hours before Sammy arrived at the Vet…with my frantic packing Luke told the Vet, “Yea, we’ll bring him in now…as in, like 4 hours from now, because my wife has already decided that is what is going to happen.” Once Luke was off Skype (because, honestly, satellite phone sucks!!!) he quickly made the decision that HE would make the drive into William’s Lake. Good thing, too!
Turns out the Vet’s office doesn’t staff at all on weekends, let alone Long Weekends; Luke was instantly dubbed Vet Assistant! I couldn’t have done it, I simply could not have done it! Luke had to hold Sammy down while he had x-rays taken then had to continue holding him down while he was given anesthetics. Here’s where I would have passed out! Luke had to hold Sammy throughout his procedure and watched as the Vet sliced our lil Sammy open to discover the extent of the damage he had done to himself! A branch had punctured him, twice as deep as the length of the gash. The Vet cleaned the wound, stitched the inside then the outside, inserted a drain which just hangs out of Sammy’s body. The Vet said that Luke could bring Sam back in 4-5 days time to get the drain removed or he could just do it himself…when Luke told me that I almost lost my lunch! So you see? I could never have been a nurse and it is a dang good thing that Luke took Sammy in to the Vet and not me!  Oh, and as the Vet worked on Sammy he suggested we get Sammy a kevlar Hunting Dog Vest so we can avoid future injuries like this one…he also said that they see this kind of wound on a weekly basis!

Okay, so Luke makes the long trip home. He said Sammy didn’t lay down once, and with that thing hanging out of his underbelly, I can’t say I blame him! Our first challenge was getting him out of the truck; we are so used to him leaping and bounding absolutely everywhere! We got Bear’s ramp; Sammy reluctantly hobbled down the ramp and very slowly made his way to the Greenhouse door. Once he was inside he just stood there, shaking uncontrollably. It was heartbreaking! Then came the task of getting him to settle for the night. Our fellas sleep with us; Sammy usually nestled among the pillows in between Luke and I while Bear takes fills up ALL the space at our feet or, if he is feeling left out, he will lay in between Luke and I, hogging all the blankets! Anyway, the bed is really tall and there is no way he was going to get up there on his own and due to the location of his wound there is no way we could lift him up onto the bed. We scratched our heads for a moment before clear thinking returned; get Bear’s ramp! Duh! Rearranged furniture so we could get the ramp set up onto the daybed; it still took a bit of coaxing but he finally got onto the bed and pretty much collapsed against me; within seconds he was fast asleep…maybe drug induced but finally his lil body could rest.

We got up this morning, thankful for the long weekend so we could have a day to recoup after the $$$ Sunday Walk! When Sammy got his pad sewed up they gave him a collar to wear and dang it, he was just getting used to NOT having it on! While cleaning up the Crow’s Nest, in anticipation of Summer Guests, I came across Bear’s old collar from when he had his dew claws removed when he was a young lad; Bear’s old collar is smaller than the behemoth one they gave lil Sammy. I almost threw it out; glad I didn’t. I went up to  get  it for Sammy thinking he would be more comfortable with a smaller collar but still prevent him from getting at his wound(s!) I was at the top of the stairs, looking at the stuff in my hands, when I checked my footing before taking the first step down and there, a mere few metres away, was a young grizzly bear!

Yea, I backed up a lil before turning around and getting myself behind the glass of the Crow’s Nest and started stomping for Luke. The grizzly just kept ambling toward’s the Earthship. Now Luke, probably sighing to himself, “Why can’t she deal with a mouse”, climbed the interior stairs to the kitchen, opened the Cold Room door only to find himself face to face with the grizzly! Needless to say he was a lil shocked! Now, if you know Luke at all, you know he reads and reads and reads some more; lucky for us he had done his bear homework; he raised his arms, making himself look big and told the grizzly to go away, that we lived here and he better just move along. He kept his cool and just dealt with it. Then he closed the door and went back downstairs for his camera and his shotgun. In the meantime I had banged on the Crow’s Nest window a few times and Mr. Grizz decided that maybe he ought to move along. By the time Luke got back to the me the grizz had toddled off towards the Boathouse trail, so no photo. Sorry. And then, just to make sure that Mr. Grizz knew that we live here now, with our dogs, Luke fired a few shots into a nearby stump. Bear, our Bear, HATES the sound of the guns! Mr. Grizz didn’t seem to phased by it though, he just continued to toddle along at his own sweet pace.
So. Long story short…though I did go on a bit, didn’t I? I suppose this is the fella that tore open that log. Remember? I walked the dogs on my own but was super cautious that day making sure I had my rifle, walkie talkie and Sam on leash – and I was super firm with Sam that day…think it was Wednesday, right? When I know I have to be boss I CAN control Sam.
But Sunday, it was our Bear who got Sammy riled up; Bear doesn’t bolt off like Sammy does but when he does, he does it with purpose! Sammy rushed to Bear’s aid and in the process ripped himself open.
Luke reckons Mr. Grizz may have followed Sammy’s trail of blood back to the Earthship. And to think, Bear and I walked that trail by ourselves on Saturday.
I think Mr. Grizz smelled the Sourdough Pancakes and Eggs and thought he might just invite himself in for Breakfast.

The moral of the story is: We have chosen to live in their territory and we have to respect that. At the same time, we will protect ourselves, Bear and Sam; our aim is to only shoot photographs of our neighbours but if push comes to shove…
I hope and pray the day never comes that we have to make that decision.

All this Grizzly talk! Have I mentioned to you yet that we have a resident black bear just over the marsh? We’re hoping it’s a Momma Bear and that she has some cubs! Though, if that was the case, wouldn’t she have already had them? I’ve come across a few Mommas with cubs in my recent drives…maybe our Blackie is a male? Anyway, Blackie sticks to the other side of the marsh and we admire her/him through the binoculars.

Just some info to pass along:

http://www.defenders.org/grizzly-bear/basic-facts

https://wildsafebc.com/black-bear/

Where does the time go? Honestly?

So, since we last spoke I made a dash down to the Valley to spend Easter with my siblings, my children and grandchildren. I was also blessed with a lunch invitation at the Rossi’s! Marian Rossi was my inspiration, my mentor though she knew naught. I looked after her children when her oldest was in Grade 1 and then her kids looked after my kids! Then, you know, life happened and we lost touch. I never stopped thinking of her though. She went on to become a teacher;  I followed in her footsteps, enrolling in the NITEP (Native Indian Teacher Ed Program) that I might one day become a teacher, like her. Funny thing, when I had Anita, Marian made me a  Holly Hobby cross stitch which I still have though it now sits in a store-bought frame. I will carry Marian, and all that she stands for, in my heart for all the days of my life. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to see her parent her children with such love and devotion – it set the path for me to follow. Oh, the super bonus of that trip is that I got to bring my 5 year old grandson home with me! He spent two weeks with us. The ladder-stairs didn’t phase him in the least. He didn’t mind using the dunny for business or the bucket for after dark pees. He traipsed through the forests like an old hand and while he thought the trip to the Boathouse was a little bit long, he really enjoyed the tinny and the canoe. I should mention that when he arrived there was still ice on both the Creek and the Lake. By the time he left though, the ice had completely melted and he DID get to go out in both the tinny and the canoe; his fave part of the trip. No, no! Wait! His absolute fave part of the trip was sitting in the excavator with his Grandpa! His fave part of the Earthship? The Crow’s Nest. I promised him it would be free of boxes next time and that he could camp up there!

The frozen lake and creek. So, the first Saturday that Benny was here we saw a Grizzly!! Right there! Just outside the East Kitchen window. Okay, maybe not just outside the window but there he was in all his glory…big, fat, fluffy, glorious, on the far side of the creek. The creek which we now know is knee deep. We admired him through the binoculars. Watched him as he ambled down along the creek towards the lake. Then Luke got bold and thought he would take his new camera and see if he could get a better shot than my lame one. Young Grizz had gotten almost to Casselman Creek where he was taunted out onto the ice by a murder of crows. (Honestly, I would like to murder that murder of crows! They have discovered that they can get a rise out of Bear and Sammy and often taunt them just as they were taunting Young Grizz!) Luke was amazed at how far out onto the ice the young fella was able to go! We know now, after having canoed the whole lake at long last, that the lake is pretty shallow where the grizzly was and even if he had fallen through he could have just waded back to shore. So any grandeur thoughts of the creek providing us with a buffer of safety from wildlife has now been shattered! And it also explains how four huge horses were easily able to make their way over the ice. And that huge pack of wolves that just sat there and had a stare down with Luke.  It amuses me to think that Luke and I were concerned that the ice would not hold two lowly humans and their dogs. Mother Nature and her creatures often know better than we humans. Let’s see if I can find my lame Grizzly shot…

I could definitely bore you with a lot of grandson shots, a lot of yummy goodness shots but, well, if you want to see that stuff you can go check it out on Facebook. I’m told my reading public are not interested in my epic food journey. I will say that while Benny was here he was missing pre-K classes so I kept him busy with printing, colouring, cooking, baking, gardening, making big, huge fires, hiking and an abundance of story reading; The Aunts Came Marching has usurped Abiyoyo’s spot!

I brought Benny to William’s Lake where his Maman collected him and I made the lonely journey back to the Earthship. Oh, wait, it wasn’t that bad! I had the whole truck to myself so I cranked the tunes and drove, drove, drove like a mad woman! It was a GREAT drive! Well, until I got to Henry’s Crossing and then I could have easily given over the task of driving to ANYONE willing to drive that last 15 km! The snow and ice  have now well and truly melted and to be honest? I miss it; it made that last 15 km so much more driveable. To be sure, Spring is supposed to have sprung but, hey, it snowed here yesterday! But no more snow accumulations so that’s good, right? Our roads…and by our roads I am referring to the bit from Henry’s Crossing to here…are still suffering from the melt.

We have to take Sammy to the vet tomorrow. Oh, yea, Sammy. Sammy ripped a pad on his left front paw from one end to the other! The vet had to re cut it, stitch it on the inside and then the outside;  we were instructed to keep it clean and dry, keep him off it and no walks. Hah! I challenge any one of you to come and take care of Sammy whilst keeping him indoors and off that foot! We did the best we could. Trust me, he is sorely over being encumbered with a boot and  leash  when out of doors. You have to watch him like a hawk!
This morn, while Luke was walking me through unloading my rifle we forgot to chain him up to something; a crow flew over and he was off like a shot!!! Before we could whistle Dixie he was at Clarice’s Bench and down the hill to the creek! Arggggh! Oh, yea, right. I took my rifle with me this morn when I took the dogs out because I just felt something in the air? We were about 1.5 km into the walk and came upon a torn up log…loaded with yummy bugs! Now I’m pretty sure Mr. Grizz hasn’t returned but that doesn’t mean that another bear is not in the vicinity. At any rate, the dogs were spooked; I radioed Luke on the walkie talkie so he knew something was afoot. I have to tell you, our walkie talkies kind of suck so how Luke managed to interpret my message is beyond me.  I managed to get Sammy to the top of the hill behind the Earthship and there was Luke, at the bottom of the hill, shotgun in hand.
I digress, we have to take Sammy in to the vet tomorrow. Luke is busy with work and we really wanted to take the dogs for a decent walk this arvo so I was elected to go and check the road on my own. It’s been a bit stormy here so rather than take the saw, and all that that  entails, with us tomorrow we thought it best to check for downed trees. I am pleased to report that there are none down on our, what? Four km? There was one big new blowdown but it was considerate enough to fall parallel to the road! Poor fella just toppled over from the roots! I got to Tsuniah Lake Road and there were a lot of newly downed trees but thankfully someone else has already taken care of them. I did take note of a few trees that are a bit of a concern; we’ll have to keep an eye on them.
So yes, the snow and ice are gone but now we get to watch for fallen trees, holes of indeterminate depth, boulders lurking in the muck that are super anxious to take a bite out of the underbelly of the truck…it’s never ending. But you know, it brought to mind all the other dirt roads I have travelled over in my lifetime and was reminded that often the best things in life are found along those roads less travelled.  I smiled to myself and thanked the Universe for bringing us here.
Now, bear with me as I present you with a pictorial of our less travelled path. And please, don’t let it scare you from visiting us! If you have a lovely truck you won’t have any problems. Or nerves of steel. (Read John) We will happily meet you at Henry’s Crossing and take over the driving from there.
Okay, here we go…

And there you have it. I didn’t bother to take a photo of the disintegrating road as you cross over Murray Taylor Creek…Let me see if I can find the last one I took.

Thanks for bearing with me through all those photos; sure breaks up the reading, hey? So yes, the road less travelled is often a complete pain in the arse to traverse but, hey, it builds character, right?

Cheers, Folks! Until next time!

So we woke up to snow Sunday morning! Shake head. Where is Spring? Spring, Spring, wherefore art thou and WHY have you forsaken me…us? Well, I guess this could be a normal Spring for Brittany Lake but it is a late Spring for Luke and I! We are used to practically wearing shorts by this time in the Valley! We arrived here in October so we have been here just over 5 months; we have a lot to experience before we know what a year in the life on Brittany Lake looks like. And so far, we have heard, it has not been super normal around here. There was that Big Blow in November that downed trees left, right, centre and everywhere in between! And then there was that huge pack of wolves that Luke saw on the Creek. Also, we have heard that this has been one heck of a snowy Winter and I am going to go with that because look at how much snow the Lower Mainland got! Heaps more than normal. Well, the new normal; the amount the Lower Mainland got this Winter is what we used to get in the old days. Oh my! I am old enough to say, “In the old days…”

Luke and I laced up our big people boots and went for a walk with the dogs. We started with a trip down to the Boathouse. One thing I am definitely going to miss about the snow is the ability to see fresh tracks! Check these out; and this furry, four legged friend of ours has an owie on one of his paws.

Now there is a spot along the trail to the Boathouse that always has Bear and Samwise a lil on edge and right on our heels. They often stop, put their snouts to the wind and have a good long sniff, all the while, at the ready to spring into action if the need arises. And then they throw caution to the wind and bounce away, down the trail, their happy-go-lucky selves until the return trip and then they will carry out the whole “I’m super curious about that animal” routine again. What was different on this trip was that down at the Boathouse both the dogs went N U T S!! We could hardly contain them! Luke and I couldn’t see any tracks or anything? The lake is still quasi frozen-not sure it would still hold the weight of an animal crossing it? But you know, Sammy had to test that, didn’t he? And that had Luke and I freaking out just a lil bit! Alright! That’s it! Everyone just settle down! Take a deep breath….that’s it, breathe. Breathe. Righty oh! Onward, ho! We definitely had company today though we could not see just who are company was. I think we would be less cautious if we didn’t have Bear and Sam; they are our babies, our four-legged fur children. If you were on the trail with let’s say, Benny and Alex, you would be just as concerned, no? So we took precautions on the way back up,  stopped at the boys’ curious spot and fired a round into the wind. Whoa! You should have seen Bear bolt! Straight up the trail! And he sure didn’t want to come back to us either! Anyway, we just wanted our neighbour that while we respect we are the new kids on the block we WILL protect our fellas.

On that note, I do think about it, quite often actually. There are all the articles about animals being shot and killed because they won’t play nice in the human neighbourhoods. Well, we are in THEIR neighbourhood! We want to maintain our own safety and the safety of OUR animals so we will make noise and hopefully that will be enough to keep the wild animals away. I absolutely hate the thought of an animal losing its life because I choose to live here.

Okay, off my soapbox! When we got to the top of the Boathouse trail we took the new path which Luke did a bit of work on! No more over and under fallen trees! Bear! He didn’t even appreciate the work, instead heading off on his own lil tangent. Silly ol’ Bear! Once down to the Goat Fence we followed it along to behind the dunny where Luke had once again, added his touch! It was like Pick-Up-Stix in there! Not anymore!!!! Now we just have to go in and clear out all the saplings and blow down – which are now in carryable lengths. Is that a word? Carryable? Well, it is now! From there we went eastward past Clarice’s Couch on to Swan Spit. We thought we would try to summit the next hill over but there is just too much blowdown! Bear simply cannot maneuver his way through it all!

Friday, March 24, 2017.

First off, a huge shout out to our daughter Anita whom celebrates her birthday today! Hope she had a great day, getting spoiled by her fellows!

We didn’t get up to a lot today. Luke worked. I cooked lunch, did laundry, did a bit of cleaning. The highlight of the day was our walk down to the Boathouse. What a walk! There is still HEAPS of snow on that trail! Heaps! And the lake is still looking pretty frozen but we aren’t going to test out just how frozen it is; it would be a long, cold walk back to the Earthship in the event that one of us fell through the ice!
I have to say that while we love going for walks with Bear and Sam, we are finding with the advent of Spring, the snow and ice starting to melt which is creating a whole lot of dirty puddles and deep, boot sucking muck! Bear and Sam’s paws and underbellies are coated in muck when we get back home. I make them lay out in the greenhouse until their mucky selves become a lil more manageable.
We are looking forward to watching the land around us come to life over the upcoming days, weeks but most of all, we look forward to dryer climes and longer days!

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Had a go at Sourdough Pancakes this morn and then got stuck into some work outside! We are in the process of building a trail from behind the sheds that will go over and meet up with the Boathouse Trail. Luke felled one dead tree standing and spent the rest of the day cutting fallen trees into carry-able lengths or bucking them up for firewood. We also cleared a lot of lil saplings, heaped them into piles for burning. I did make a fire but it was super windy and a  lot of the trees, branches were super wet from our last dump of snow so it was more smoke than fire! It’s a huge process, this clearing! We are separating the wood into categories: Burnable, Saplings (read burnable) decent trees possibly used for building stuff, and last but certainly not least, Firewood! Now, did Luke stop when he did because a) he was just that tired and didn’t want to do anymore? b) he got to the top of the hill? c) there got to be too much snow on the ground to safely get into the woody fray? He says, c) the snow got to be too deep for him to safely cut anymore trees.  Anyway,  it was a beautiful sunny day, albeit very windy. It was good to finally be outside doing stuff again!

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Wow! Woke up to a very cold and grey day today! But not ones to be stopped by a lil inclement weather we headed back out to work on the new trail after another batch of Sourdough Pancakes…still not happy with any of the recipes I have tried.
It is very windy again today! But I was smarter today and made the fire in a spot where I would NOT have to walk in the smoke to load more stuff onto the fire! Clever, right? After Luke hauled all the firewood down to the shed and I had gathered up all the burnables we were left with a much tidier trail! Still heaps to be done but we are happy with our weekend working out of doors!

After we came in we were treated to a about 30 minutes of watching a lone wolf hunting for food. Poor fella must be pretty hungry if all he can catch is mice? Up on the boathouse trail we see heaps of bunny tracks; wonder why he isn’t hunting those?
The itty bitty spot on the ice is the wolf…we so need a better camera!

Monday, March 27, 2017

On a personal note, I forgot to take my daily double  dose of thyroid meds this weekend which left me feeling pretty awful on Monday! I forgot to take Monday morning too but remembered a lil later in the day.  That’s what tends to happen when I get up and start doing stuff straight away. Must remember to take meds!

Because I wasn’t feeling the greatest I had a quiet day, only doing a bit of baking and trying a new soup recipe in the InstaPot. Everything turned out great!
After Lupper I had a lay down with Bear  and Sam, listening to Season 8 Dr. Who episodes; the one where Danny Pink is an astronaut onward. I so love Clara Oswald!  And I am finally on board with the new Doctor…I think I am on my third go through Season 8; took me a long while to warm up to Peter Capaldi!
After Luke finished up for a bit we took Bear and Sam out for a walk. We tried to plan a walk that would leave them with the least muddy paws; we were going great but then I threw Sammy’s ball for him, it landed in what looked like plain old grass but in actuality was a great big ol’ mud hole and it was game over! Ah well, we tried. So we walked along the front then went up along a rough path to where the excavator used to sit, along the muddy lane to the Boathouse trail, along that trail until we got to the trail we are currently working on. It’s a good trail at the mo because it is still covered in snow and the dogs stay MUCH cleaner! The downfall is that there is a lot of blowdown between the Boathouse trail and the new trail. Bear has a wobbly back end so he has a difficult time with some of the blowdowns; sometimes he goes around, if he can; sometimes Luke lifts his back end over for him; sometimes he goes under; and sometimes he grabs onto a branch of the blowdown and just tries to move it himself! He is a great helping dog.

Now we have been seeing a bit more wildlife; there has been that lone wolf, tons of different birds, well, by tons I mean we have identified you know, the symbol of Spring – the Robin, a beautiful Blue Mountainbird, we are seeing more Whiskey Jacks or Grey Jays, as they are known around here and a lil fella that we haven’t sussed out just yet. They sound lovely!
Our newest guess is a delightful river otter! I am going to say there are a lot of fish in the creek because he has set up camp! He is very entertaining to watch! He dives down into a hole in the ice, catches a fish, brings it back up and then sets about eating his catch; in between fish he often rolls about on the ice – probably trying to shake some of the freezing cold water off his body! He doesn’t seem to phased by our presence. We only go to the end of the lower paddock to watch him; to go any closer would surely have us fishing one of the dogs out of the creek!

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Not much going on today. But, I did have a great start to the day! Benny wanted to have a chat with his Granny! Best way in the world to wake up!
After our lil visit I decided that I am going to make every effort to make my way down to the Valley for Easter. I hoped Luke would come with but he just is not set up to be able to work remotely anywhere except here; he really needs to get a laptop for work so we can be a lil more mobile, I reckon. Michael and Hayley have a spare room that I take up residence in when I go down for a visit; I have asked Michael to please put a desk in there so Luke can come along, set up his computer and happily work from there with the conveniences of a flush toilet, unlimited hot water, bandwidth dreams are made of and unlimited downloads!
Now, please don’t be shocked…I didn’t take a single photo today! Well, except food photos but I won’t bore you with those. I have been growing a Sourdough Starter and I made my first Sourdough Bread today! It was alright. Not the greatest. I’ll try again next week. Also made Spaghetti Bol in the InstaPot; that was a complete success! Loving that InstaPot! What a great investment!

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Shocker! Got up and what? Snow! Ugh. I had planned on going out and doing a bit of clearing, maybe some burning but nope, not happening. What a mood killer! Now in the dead of Winter you just dress for the weather and go and do stuff but this in between Winter and Spring Black Hole is impossible! It’s slippery, it’s muddy, it’s mucky – I mean you put your foot down and it disappears up to your ankle in M U C K !!! Blech! I can’t stand that feeling; that sound, that smell! And that’s just my feet. I really dislike all of the aforementioned mess on Bear and Sam’s paws! That is a lot of paws and two large underbellies that have to be thoroughly cleaned after each trip out doors!
Which brings to mind. Forget about trying to have clean floors! I tried for a day or two but I have thrown in the towel on that one! Well, literally, I have thrown down the dog blankets! All of them! You can no longer see the floors downstairs for all the dog blankets but at least I don’t have to contend with muddy dog prints!
I didn’t get up to much today; couldn’t even really cook because we are still going through leftovers. I miss having people to cook for! I did have a pineapple sitting on the bench from our last shop that was desperately needing to be used up so I decided to lift up my lagging spirits by making Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes for Lupper. They were AMAZING! And I made a teeny tiny batch so no leftovers there!

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Decided to finally bring in the laundry that has been hanging in the Greenhouse for a few days. I opened the windows on both ends of the Greenhouse to get a breeze going through that might blow away any remaining dampness in the drying clothes. That’s the problem with the clothesline being in the Greenhouse; if there’s no sun then the clothes don’t dry very well. In the dead of Winter I was hauling the air dryer into the loungeroom and setting it up in front of the woodstove. Major pain. We are going to put up a clothesline once the ground has thawed enough to dig a hole. It’s going to have to be super reinforced in the ground as the winds tend to rip through here like nobody’s business! Anyway, once I can hang the laundry outside maybe our clothes won’t feel like cardboard? The wind will soften them, right? I got wise quick and got my Norwex rep to order some bath towels for me; they are heaps better than scratchy cotton towels!
With the, once again, cold weather we have had to light fires in the morning, and actually kept it going through the day yesterday because it was so cold. Last weekend Luke bucked up some firewood but he didn’t split any; bad move! We are down to a dozen pieces of firewood and zero kindling. I have tried my hand at splitting firewood but I keep missing the mark! Maybe I should keep my eyes open? Kindling? That I can do! And in the comfort, or lack thereof, of the Greenhouse. I got stuck into the job of replenishing the kindling and whilst doing so, really became disgusted with the state of the Greenhouse. Think I may have a case of Spring Fever.
Once the kindling was done I hauled down the topsoil I bought while in William’s Lake and got stuck into tidying up  the garden beds. Once that was done I noticed that despite the lack of sunshine I was still quite w a r m so I thought, hey, I should try planting some seeds!  I spent an hour or so tending to my herb garden and then planted a bunch of seeds. We’ll see how it goes, right? If nothing comes of it, at least it kept me busy and what did it cost, really? A few seeds. I have more of those if these ones don’t take.

Friday, March 31, 2017

Yes! Got up today to the Sun shining! After morning chores and meal prep which included making Sourdough Burger Buns, I set the timer while the bread dough was proofing and headed outside. Oh, man! After being cooped up for a few days it felt great to be outside!
Yesterday while sitting at the table I looked out the east facing window and thought I saw a bear! There are A LOT of saplings over that way! A LOT! Line of sight is important because it just so happens that is where our Bear heads when we let him out. And no, he was not outside when I thought I saw the bear.
Anyway, timer set for 90 minutes I armed myself with my handheld secateurs and a set of pruners, ready to do some damage! I selectively thinned some of the saplings and the ones that remained standing got trimmed of their lower branches so we can at least see beyond them. Cutting saplings down with pruners is hard on the back, let me tell you! I much prefer trimming branches but then, you know, I have to bend to pick up all the trimmings and throw them into a pile or onto the fire. I did get a fire going but everything is so wet that it was not catching very well so I had to slowly throw a branch on every now and again until it got well established.
And then the timer went off and I had to go back inside to finish making Lupper. Vegetarian Teriyaki Burgers on Sourdough Buns. Yum. But what a lot of dishes! S’all good; I like doing dishes. When there is a mountain of dishes to do, you methodically wash, rinse, drain, wipe, put away and carry on until the mountain has moved from one side of the bench to the other and you get this great feeling of accomplishment! Well, I do.
Once Lupper and dishes were out of the way I went back outside and carried on with my battle against the saplings. I want to say that I am, we are, now winning but it is just so hard to see any accomplishment because of the sheer number of saplings! And so many of them need to go. We have been itching to work on their removal for a few weeks now, hoping and praying the weather would cooperate and melt the snow so we could get out there and get stuck into the job of clearing!
Slow and steady wins the race.

Righty oh! See you next week!