The Inman Road Chronicles

Changes...

2011-08-03T01:45:00.000-07:00

A lot has changed for Mike and me in the past few months.

First and most importantly, our lovely daughter Jen married her true love Graydon on May 28, and has moved to California for the foreseeable future.

Five years ago, we were certain that Inman Road would be home pretty much forever...but we have moved! On the second to last day of April, I dragged Mike to see the cutest little log house ever, just 10 minutes away...and on the last day of May, it became ours. We spent a couple of weeks gradually moving our stuff (of which we have a ton), and on June 17 we became permanent residents in our new home.

So the Inman Road Chronicles will be no more...but I hope you will join me at my new blog Under A Cariboo Sky

Thank you for sharing a small part of our lives on Inman Road.

Karen xo

Spring...sort of.

2011-05-08T17:05:00.000-07:00

I can report that the last of the snow has finally gone, as of yesterday. Finally. It was a long, long, winter and thus far a cold, damp spring. All is well...the garlic is up and about 4 inches tall. My fall spinach planting experiment worked well, and the spinach is doing its thing too. No leaves out just yet. The ice came off of Horse Lake late last week, 36 days later than last year! The birds are coming back in droves, and although I haven't seen a hummingbird yet, a feederful of high octane syrup is hanging in anticipation.

Critters are all alive and well, except that we lost one chicken a couple of months ago; the others kept attacking her. I brought her into the house and kept her in Rudy's crate to heal, but the others wouldn't accept her back, and I'm not quite "country" enough to exist with a chicken living indoors over the winter. (It actually wasn't so bad, except she kept kicking woodshavings through the wire door and the dogs tracked it everywhere) I'm not quite "country" enough to put a chicken down either, so a friend had to take care of the dreadful deed.

Under Siege

2011-02-25T20:09:00.000-08:00

La Nina has given us our snowiest winter since we moved here five years ago. There is about two feet of snow on the ground, and winter is showing no sign of letting up just yet.

For the most part, mornings here on Inman Road are quite routine.

In the mornings, I put the kettle on, let the dogs out, and feed the cat. I make tea, let the dogs back in and give them breakfast. I enjoy a big mug of tea, chat on the phone with Mike if he is away on the road, and then pull on a warm jacket, step into my boots, fill a jug with water, and head out to the chicken house.

The chickens are always happy to see me, and gather around my feet to peck the snow off my boots. Their water gets replenished, I feed them, and I collect the eggs. (The chickens have heat lamps to keep them from getting too chilly in the cold weather, and a light on a timer that comes on at 3:30 a.m. They need the artificial light to stimulate them to lay...with the light coming on that early, eggs are usually ready to pick up when I go out to feed them.) Once the eggs are collected, I take them back to the house, and then go back outside to feed Buck and Rupert.

Equine breakfast consists of hay, and hay comes from the hay shed. Buck gets three or four large flakes of hay, and Rupert gets about 1/3 of a flake. On Wednesday morning, there was hay strewn around in the hayshed. A bale had been torn open, and there was lots of loose hay on the ground. A moose had found the hay. (This has been more or less inevitable, but we have managed to avoid being raided until now.) I fed the boys, and pondered how best to deal with pillaging moose.

Being resourceful, and not wishing to share my $8 per bale hay with the local wildlife, I decided to block the open end of the hayshed with the tractor. And so on Wednesday afternoon, I carefully positioned our trusty Kubota crosswise so even I couldn't easily get in. Problem solved. No access to hayshed for moose, and therefore no further hay loss.

That was the plan, anyway.

Yesterday morning, Thursday, I went through my usual routine...kettle, dogs out, feed cat, make tea, dogs in, dog breakfast drink tea, talk with absent husband, wait till it was light enough to go outside to feed chickens...as I was about to head out I spotted these two:

Not just one, but two moose...a big cow and her calf.

They loitered,

Checked the birdhouses for occupants

And eventually wandered away...

I did the chicken chores, then went to feed the boys. One of the two moose had gained access to the hayshed by going through the tractor, breaking the steering wheel, smashing the glass of the instrument panel, bending the front end loader control and doing other damage. The tractor is unusable now until it can be repaired.

The moose were back last night, and this morning were loitering in Rupert's pen after helping themselves to another free meal. Rupert is not happy about having company. And neither am I. I'm not sure how we're going to deal with these now not-so-welcome guests.

A Thanksgiving Offering

2010-10-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

We had some chores to do in the chicken house today; Mike installed a heatlamp to keep the girls cozy in the coming cold weather, and we hung their feeder from the ceiling and raised their water container higher from the ground in an effort to keep shavings out of it. We had shooed them all outside while we worked. I was doing a routine clean, and found these dear little eggs in their nest boxes...haven't checked for a few days, and wasn't expecting any eggs quite yet, as they're not even four months old yet. The first eggs are about half the size that the girls will eventually lay. A lovely surprise for Thanksgiving!

Chicken Watching...Everybody's Doing It

2010-10-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

The chickens are an endless source of fascination around here.

Cody and Jasper can't get enough of chicken watching.

Lucy is equally enthralled.

Buck and Rupert, on the other hand, are much more interested in hay than chickens.

Fall in Lone Butte

2010-09-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

Second Annual Note to Self

2010-09-27T17:49:00.001-07:00

Because I can never remember what I planted where the previous year: Garlic is planted as follows in alphabetical order: Rows 1&2 Bogatyr, Rows 3&4 Georgian Fire, Rows 5&6 Polish Hardneck and the rest are Yugoslavian. Each year I'm planting fewer varieties. The first couple of years I went a bit crazy with planting zillions of varieties, but in all honesty they all taste pretty much the same to us. Some are a bit milder than others, but I don't think I have it in me to be a garlic gourmand.

All done. I planted the garlic after work today; it is an especially lovely afternoon, mild and breezy, and the apsens are at their stunning golden best everywhere. Yesterday I dug and weeded all the raised beds, except for the herb and flower one, which is too full of stuff to tackle just yet. Then I got out the tractor and scooped a couple of buckets of composted manure from last winter's pile (thanks, Buck and Rupert!) and added that to the raised beds. They can sit now for the winter, and in the spring will just need a quick dig to loosen up the soil again.

Critter update coming soon, RinV!

September Snapshots

2010-09-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

One of the most wonderful things about living in the Cariboo is witnessing the southward migration of sandhill cranes every September. Mike and I were cutting and burning beetle-killed pines last week when this group appeared. They spent quite a bit of time circling and calling, and gradually other cranes flew in from different directions to join them. We watched them spiral up and up until we couldn't see them any more.

One of our aspens, in fine fall form.

Here's what I woke up to on Tuesday morning...September 20 seems a tad early for 3 inches of snow! It stopped mid morning, and was all gone again by Wednesday afternoon.

My beautiful Rudy has been very unwell for many weeks. He has been back and forth to the vet, had bloodwork, xrays, and a multitude of other things done to him, and got no real diagnosis. During the summer he was thought to have developed laryngeal paralyis when he had trouble swallowing and lost his voice. Next he developed a huge swelling under his jaw, which opened and drained spontaneously. After that his gums swelled enormously...and then we discovered he had developed the world's stupidest habit of eating wasps and bees. That all resolved, but next he developed an enteritis. That resolved, but he has been quite lethargic, often seemed to be in pain, and he lost several pounds which he could ill afford to lose, being a naturally thin dog. On Tuesday, he developed a large abscess on his abdomen which the vet incised and drained...he had his drain removed from today. He's on antibiotics and is feeling lots better. Hopefully this will be the end of his problems. He had a horrible summer. I'm sure he'll have a much nicer Autumn.

All Grown Up

2010-09-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

The Girls, as you can see, are all grown up. They're now just over 3 months old, hatched on the first day of summer. No eggs yet; they should start producing within a month or two...everyone I ask who knows about chickens has a different idea of when they should start to lay. Some say four months, some five, others tell me I won't see an egg till Christmas. We shall see.

All 26 chicks survived, we kept half, and a friend from work added 13 to her existing flock.

They're quite tame, and highly entertaining. Elizabeth, the one eyed chicken, stayed with us.

They're Girls!

2010-07-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Backtracking a couple of weeks...I called the hatchery three Mondays ago to explain that my brown leghorn chicks were not brown at all...the nice lady on the other end laughed, said they get calls like that all the time, and that in fact future feathers would emerge brown. And sure enough, that is the case.

We moved the girls to their nifty new chicken house two weeks ago...they are venturing out into their run, and generally doing chicken things on a miniature scale. The dogs are mesmerized by them, and stand at the chicken run staring for hours.

One has lost an eye, I am not sure if she was pecked, but the eye has gradually atrophied during the last week. She is very tentative in her movements but seems to be managing okay...her name is Elizabeth...no names for the others just yet...can't tell them apart.

I'm Perplexed...

2010-06-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

My brown leghorn chicks are growing creamy off-white feathers...so apparently they are not brown leghorns at all. I will have to check the packing slip to see what the hatchery says they shipped...the box they came in with the packing slip attached is in my office at work. This is going to take some investigation. If they have shipped the wrong breed, they could also have shipped the wrong sex...now I'm horrified at the thought of possibly having 26 roosters to contend with. Hell's bells.

Peeps!

2010-06-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

Things are carrying on as usual here in Lone Butte. Since mid-May the weather has been generally cool and damp, and today we have had periods of very heavy rain. This has been the wettest late spring and early summer we've had since we arrived here 4 years ago. No complaints though...I'll take this over worrying about forest fires.

We have some new critters...tiny little ones! Yesterday morning I arrived at the feed store to pick up our long awaited chicks; brown leghorn pullets who will be providing us with fresh brown eggs in a few months. The minimum order was 25; we will be keeping about 12; a friend from work will add the rest to her flock when they are a little larger. I'm keeping the chicks at work until tomorrow. The seniors are loving having them around. The chicken run is almost ready for occupancy, Mike and I just need to staple the wire on when he's home. In the meantime, the chicks will be occupying the spare bedroom with a heat lamp to keep them cozy.

The Lull...

2010-04-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

We are caught in a lull here...winter is over, but spring hasn't quite yet sprung. The snow is all but gone; just a few hardy patches where the sun doesn't quite reach yet. We still see the odd flurry of snow, but any accumulation is short lived. Our nights are still very frosty for the most part.

With the light snow cover this year, there is very little standing water...I am hoping this bodes well for a relatively light year for mosquitoes. Behind our property stands a marsh...this time last year the water at our fenceline was nearly to the top of my trusty gumboots...this year there just soft wet ground. There are other areas where we have temporary ponds in the spring; this year one is completely dry, the second is just mud, and the third has about four inches of water instead of its usual two feet. I hope the summer is not too dry...we don't need another year of forest fires in the area.

The ice is off the local lakes already. Mike and I drove past Horse Lake as we went into 100 Mile House on Good Friday...the lake was ice covered with a small accumulation of snow. When we returned about an hour later, the lake was bare with white caps from a howling wind.

The ice came off our most local lake, Irish Lake, on the weekend. This is about three weeks earlier than usual, and a full six weeks earlier than 2009...for some reason, we keep track of things like this.

In other news...we plan to build our house this year and are awaiting bids from local contractors. Mike spent a few days plowing and removing rocks from an area of the pasture we are improving...we seeded it on Sunday, and put an electric fence around it to keep Buck and Rupert out. It's not quite warm enough to germinate yet. I'm hoping for some rain, but may have to water to get things going.

All the critters are well, as are Mike and I. Mike and Cody are off to Virginia and Maryland after 10 days at home. Things are quiet here without them.

Things to Do on a Saturday in February...

2010-02-10T14:59:00.001-08:00

You can trudge through the snow, carrying a section of newspaper and some dry cedar kindling and light up a great big stump pile...

Or you can just lay down in the snow and chew on a log.

It's up to you.

The Critters (most of them, anyway)

2010-02-01T20:36:00.001-08:00

Here are a few moments captured yesterday afternoon.

Lucy and Jasper roughhousing. Lucy does pretty well for an arthritic old lady, whose hip dysplasia is apparently so bad that her xrays could be those of a dog who can't stand up.

Victorious Lucy pins Jasper by his throat. That's Rudy off to the side. He doesn't join in the play fights...he just continually shrieks encouragement at the top of his lungs from the sidelines.

Here's Buck at his scruffiest. He doesn't look like the beautiful sleek golden horse who lives here during the summer months.

Rupert, tucking into his meager ration of hay. He thinks he's being starved, but as you can tell, he's still looking rather over nourished.

Feeding the Birds

2010-01-31T09:42:00.000-08:00

Early this winter, Mike made me two simple log bird feeders by boring several 1" holes in each, and attaching a hook to suspend them . I stuff them with a concoction of peanut butter, suet, & mixed seeds, much to the delight of the chickadees, nuthatches, sapsuckers and woodpeckers who visit them almost constantly.

Yes, right...where was I?

2010-01-30T11:09:00.000-08:00

We are still here, still alive, still well. Please pardon my absence from the blogosphere.

A quick recap of the last few months:

Snow came late to the Cariboo; there was none to speak of until late November, and there has been very little since. Today is the first really snowy day we have had for many weeks. I don't know what the total accumulation has been for the winter, but with weeks of mild days, it has added up to very little on the ground. Williams Lake, an hour north of us had no snow at all last week when we were there. The winter of 2009-2010 has been by far the mildest since our move here 4 years ago. Oh, and just before the snow came, Inman Road was paved.

Mike & Cody are in Saskatoon today...tomorrow they will make their way to Winnipeg. They were home last week, and left on Tuesday. They had almost three weeks at home over Christmas, and an unplanned return home in November for two weeks when Mike was quite ill. Some heavy duty antibiotic therapy and my expert (but sometimes unwelcome) nursing skills got him mended and back to work again.

As for me, I have been hobbling around for several months with plantar fasciitis, which feels more or less like someone is driving a railroad spike into your heel with every step. Not too pleasant. Anyway, to make a short story long...a few weeks before Christmas, and after consuming several large bottles of ibuprofen, I finally decided I should do something about that, and found a podiatrist in Kamloops (a two hour drive away) and dutifully showed up for my appointment. He did foot castings and I made an appointment to pick up my orthotics last Monday. My first clue that all was not well should have come when he asked me, "So do you go by Beatrice, or Bea?" "Karen," I replied. "Oh, right." The orthotics felt roughly like someone had sliced a lacrosse ball in half, and inserted half, round side up, into each shoe. "Weird," I thought, but what do I know about how they should feel? Everyone says they take some getting used to. I gamely limped around, and managed to keep my shoes on till we got home. The podiatrist called around 5 pm to sheepishly advise that I was in fact, in possession of Beatrice's orthotics. I acquired my very own pair yesterday, and hope for the best! I hope that Beatrice has hers now, and that her poor fallen arches get some relief.

The animals are well, all of them. Rupert is on a diet, much to his chagrin. Buck is beginning to lose his winter coat and is oh, so itchy. Molly has been going out some nights (that's how mild it's been, last year she didn't set her princess toes outside until mid March) and yesterday morning left the first mouse of the year on the doormat. The dogs are fine, and are awaiting the return of their bedding from the washer and dryer.

There you go...all up to date. Enjoy the weekend.

Happiness is Rolling in the Dust

2009-10-04T18:07:00.001-07:00

Rupert enjoying a good roll on a sunny afternoon.

A Treasure Map

2009-10-04T13:51:00.000-07:00

During our first fall in Lone Butte, I ordered and planted many varieties of garlic. To keep track, I painstakingly recorded each variety on a bright orange piece of paper, which I promptly lost...not to be seen again for two years. By then I had no idea which variety was which.

This year, I'm making my garlic map here in cyberspace, where I won't lose it. At the end of summer I'll be able to look back and see which varieties did well, and which I won't grow again.

Row 9 Persian Star
Row 8 Persian Star
Row 7 Northern Quebec
Row 6 M M M M M NQ
Row 5 Majestic
Row 4 Dan's Russian
Row 3 Dan's Russian, YP YP YP YP
Row 2 Yugoslavian Porcelain
Row 1 Magic

Now all I have to remember is that I actually recorded what I planted!

And then it was Autumn

2009-09-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

...which is my favourite season here in the beautiful South Cariboo. Summer's heat returned with a vengence in mid August, and has only just given way to overnight frosts and that wonderful crispness in the air that makes working outdoors such a pleasure. My sheepskin slippers just been pulled out from under the bed to replace my flip flops, and I think the woodstove is going to get its first use of the season tonight.

Over the past weeks, several projects have been completed...the most major being the shop, which has taken three years of intermttent work. Mike and I moved the raised garden beds to their new home in Rupert's former pen last weekend, as they were occupying ground which is going to be the building site for our house next year. The herbs and strawberries have been replanted.

This morning I have been splitting firewood and planting daffodil bulbs, this afternoon I'll be cutting back the delphiniums, lupins and artemesia, and planting garlic.

All here are well...Mike and Cody are back on the road since Tuesday after a week at home. Today they are in Ohio, and will be in Virginia by tomorrow morning. Buck is in the yard, grazing on the end of season clover...Rupert is loudly protesting that he can't (too rich, causes founder) join Buck.

Rudy's personality has blossomed in the past few months...Lucy has finally decided that since he isn't going anywhere, she might as well accept him and stop terrorizing him. He's a scoundrel, and a clown, and he makes me laugh every day. Jasper is dedicated to spending every possible moment inside, and Molly has been presenting us with a dead mouse most mornings.

Life here is predictable, and routine, but very, very good.

Rudbeckia

2009-08-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

My first flower from seed sown last year! I've never grown any perennials from seed before, so this little flower is special.

This December I will start delphiniums under my grow lights to bloom next summer. I have gathered seed from aubretia and dianthus to start next spring.

A Project for Fall

2009-08-15T19:24:00.001-07:00

There's some wood splitting and stacking in my near future! This will be a project for September and October. Firewood is my favorite chore; there is something very satisfying about filling the woodshed. It won't be long until the woodstove is back in use...I was tempted last night, but opted for an extra blanket instead.

The Tomato Thief

2009-08-14T20:55:00.001-07:00

Here's a guilty face if ever I saw one...Rudy has been helping himself to my meager crop of tomatoes in the greenhouse!

Beautiful Lucy

2009-08-13T18:51:00.001-07:00

Summer is Slipping By...

2009-08-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

Early mornings this week have hinted that fall is most definitely on its way to Lone Butte. The dawn air is chilly and moist; a flannel workshirt is required over my nightgown when I first venture outside. A few willows are starting to turn yellow.

After almost two weeks of intense heat, things have cooled down dramatically. Tonight we have rain accompanied by distant thunder. Forest fires have blazed to the northwest, southwest, and southeast of us, but our immediate area has been untouched since early in the season. I woke in the wee hours of Saturday morning to a strong odor of smoke, sure that there was a fire very locally. There was nothing in the vacinity, it turns out that much of the province was shrouded in smoke all day.

All the critters are well...Rupert has had his annual bout of August lameness. Every year he gets sore for a few days; we treat him with rest and painkillers. After a few days of confinement (which he complains about at full volume), he's fine again.

One pot of cherry tomatoes survive the frost at the end of June, and I've been waiting to be able to pick some. They're always just about, but not quite ripe when I go to pick them...yesterday I found out why...I caught Rudy in the greenhouse, blithely helping himself to ripe tomatoes off the vine!

Woodpeckers

2009-08-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

July wasn't all sad. A pair of downy woodpeckers had hollowed out an alive and well aspen tree near the house, and entered into several weeks of servitude to the tiny tyrants inhabiting their nest. The babies peeped incessantly from the minute they hatched until they left the nest, getting a little louder each day. They were only quiet if it was completely dark outside.

I was hoping to see the babies out of the nest, but I came home from work one afternoon, and the whole family was gone without a trace.

Gillis

2009-08-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

On July 10, we said a very sad goodbye to our oldest dog, Gillis . I am very comforted by the fact that he is no longer lost, restless and confused. Dogs with dementia seem to follow pretty much the same disease path as humans...their blessing is that their suffering can be ended when quality of life is gone. Things are very different around here without him. He is much missed.

Gills - In my care January 21, 1997 to July 10, 2009.

2009-07-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

It's not all a bed of roses, living in the Cariboo. We had a severe killing frost on the night of June 30th, and the contents of my greenhouse have been more or less wiped out. My zucchini, tomotaoes, beans, and basil are done. The potato bed isn't looking good, but I think they may come around.

The mosquitoes this year are horrible. I hate bug dope and coils, but it's either that or don't go outside. I keep a coil burning outside the front door to keep the little buggers away...I killed about 30 of them in our bedroom today. Thank goodness for screens, or it would be worse.

On the bright side, I went for a nice ride on Buck yesterday morning...the first since 2007. I didn't get to ride at all last year because of his injury. His leg has a fair bit of scar tissue and always looks a little swollen, but he is sound and comfortable. He was as well behaved as if I'd ridden him the previous day. He's a very good horse.

Flora & Fauna

2009-06-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

Musings from the Past Month...

2009-06-03T19:34:00.000-07:00

It seems like just last week I was still grouching about a distinct lack of Spring in our neck of the woods, and suddenly, it's more or less summer! The south Cariboo has a short but sweet spring which gives way to summer (quit looking at the calendar and pointing out that it's not June 21st) in almost a heartbeat.

Things are happening...we have a nifty new chicken house (thanks, Bernie) and when Mike comes home, we will have a nifty chicken run to go with it. We don't yet have chickens...I need to be certain we can properly contain them before getting any. I'm not well versed in the art of chicken procurement, and I'm not certain what the chick and pullet availability season looks like either. I'll add that to my must find out list.

We need to do some fencing to contain the dogs a little better...Rudy should be renamed Houdini...he gets through the fence at will and every once in a while takes it upon himself to visit various neighbours. Jasper needs to be kept out of the pastures because he has become enormously obese from dining on an endless supply of horse and donkey deposits...anyway, to make a long story short, we contacted someone to pound some fence posts for us...he promised to show up at the beginning of the week but we have not yet seen hide nor hair of him. He may eventually turn up...a classic case of operating on "Cariboo Time".

Cariboo Time is very elastic...we're still waiting for an electrician who promised to show up over a year ago (actually we gave up on him after six months). And speak of the devil...a guy who was going to come by a week ago last Sunday to quote on some work for us actually just called as I started on this paragraph...

2009 is shaping up to be a worrisome year in the local forests. There have been two large local wildfires in the past month. Mike and I toured the 70 Mile destruction a couple of weeks ago; the fire followed a very irregular, haphazard path, consuming some homes, but skirting others entirely. Several of my coworkers missed work this past weekend, being on evacuation alert from the Buffalo Creek fire. Yesterday morning when I first let the dogs out I could smell very faint smoke, probably from the Tyaughton Lake fire west of Lillooet...much of our wind blows from the southwest. Dry lightning is forecast for Friday. Every area seems to have its threats...some have to think about earthquakes, or hurricanes, or tornados, or floods; our risk is fire.

I seem to be more caught up in living the life Mike and I have made together than writing about it these days, but that's probably how it should be.

I will post some photos before the weekend, complete with doggy pics for my friend RIV!

Great Gray Owl

2009-05-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

I meant to get this photo posted before we went away, but better late than never. As is customary on my birthday in early April, Mike and I took a leisurely drive. We came across this magnificent windswept owl near Bridge Lake. Although Grey Gray Owls are one of the largest owl species, their plumage makes them look larger than they actually are. They are year round inhabitants, and they are actually able to hear their prey under the snow and break through crusted snow to find their meal. Click on the photo to see this beautiful creature in better detail.

And Snow It Goes!

2009-04-29T05:04:00.000-07:00

We are back from Hawaii, and had a wonderful relaxing time! Jen did a great job of "minding the farm", and we were delighted to see that the six inches of snow that was on the ground when we left is all gone...just a tiny patch of the white stuff remains beside a big shaded log pile.

Many birds are back from warmer climes, and we have a pair of mountain bluebirds hanging around!

Here are a few photos from our vacation:

A bird-of-paradise. They are everywhere in Maui...people sell huge bunches of them at the end of their driveways for three dollars.

The view looking east from the lanai at our condo. We stayed at Ka'anapali, just north of Lahaina.

Sunset over the ocean, looking west from our lanai.

Hana Bay. We went to Hana twice, despite its legendary tortuous narrow highway with 617 curves and 50-something one lane bridges. The surroundings more than made up for the harrowing drive. The seascapes are breathtaking, and the tropical rainforest wonderous.

We went on an early morning whalewatching trip, and were treated to some fantastic sights. Here you can see the tail of a mother humpback whale. If you look below the right side of her tail fluke, you can see her calf. Humpbacks feed in the waters off Alaska during the summer, and migrate to Hawaii during the winter months to breed and give birth. We were able to hear a male singing with the aid of a hydrophone lowered into the water.

Counting...

2009-03-28T06:53:00.000-07:00

A colleague and I had to take a work related trip up to Williams Lake on Thursday...it turned out to be a wildlife viewing extravaganza: 3 mountain bluebirds (at Lac La Hache), several bald eagles, about twenty trumpeter swans at the 130 Mile wetlands and 44 deer! (We only counted on the way home to avoid duplication.) The deer were gathered in small herds, munching last year's grass in the pastures alongside the road. I thought that was pretty impressive!

Gillis

2009-03-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

My dear old Gillis is getting up there in years. He's at least thirteen, possibly older, and getting frail & demented. He's been my faithful friend for twelve years, and is one of the greatest loves of my life.

A Little Piece of Spring

2009-03-21T19:30:00.001-07:00

Winter is finally giving way to Spring, which arrived both figuratively and literally on Thursday. The melt has begun, and the snow is starting to recede, though it will still be several weeks till we are snow free. The south side of our roof is now bare, but the north side still has about a foot of ice on it. We see few birds still, just the odd chickadee, raven or woodpecker. The Canada geese have arrived in the lower, warmer, less snowy areas. I feel sorry for them at this time; there seems to be little for them to forage on.

We are all well...just biding our time until we can get busy outdoors again.

In my last post, I told you I'd be heading off in April for a two week trucking adventure with Mike. We have altered our plans drastically, and three weeks from now, we will be airborne heading for Maui! After five months of snow, I'm more than ready for some warmth and sunshine.

An Update

2009-02-16T21:40:00.000-08:00

Still alive and well in the great white north. And white it still is. We're knee deep in white, but I'll take white over rain any day! Not a great deal to report...all the critters are fine. Buck is starting to lose a little of his winter coat, which is a sign that spring will spring one of these days...last night was -25C, so I'm not sure his shedding isn't a little premature.

Mike and Cody will be home on Saturday; they're deep in the heart of Texas somewhere tonight. I'm going to be joining them for a two week trip in April, and will be resurrecting The Ravenwood Diaries to document our travels.

I'll upload a photo or two soon.

A Sunday Drive

2009-01-31T10:53:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, Mike and I took a drive to Chasm, then home by way of Green Lake. We visited with the horses on winter pasture near Watch Lake,

and said hello to some cows at Chasm. The trees in the Chasm area were breathtakingly beautiful, with layer after layer of hoar frost flocking them.

There had been no fresh snow for a couple of weeks, but the conditions had been perfect to create a winter wonderland.

The Traveller

2009-01-27T18:58:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since you've seen Cody...he was just home for a week with Mike, and is now on his way to Ohio. Last trip he added California and Nevada to his list of places travelled to.

He's always excited to come home, and Mike tries to time their homecomings for afternoon or early evenings. We've learned the hard way that if they arrive late at night, no one gets any rest because Cody races around the house at high speed for hours, having a wonderful time.

Although he loves his home time, frolicking with the big dogs, he's always excited to get back into the truck after a week for the next adventure, destination unknown.

Frosted Lichen

2009-01-17T19:33:00.000-08:00

These are the Best Days of Winter

2009-01-17T18:09:00.000-08:00

Days like today, clear, crisp, but not too cold are the very best the Cariboo offers in wintertime. The nights are in the minus mid-teens, and the days just below zero. We heard birdsong today, but there are still no visitors to the feeders at all.

Rudy had a visit to the vet today, to have a growth on his lip looked at. I was expecting another appointment to have it removed, but Brian had some free time and did it while I puttered around in town for a while. It has been unusually quiet around here today without Rudy racing around and woodling at the top of his voice, as he usually does. He is tired and sleepy, and laying low.

Winter Days

2009-01-11T16:22:00.001-08:00

Even though it's deepest winter, it is encouraging that the days are becoming noticably longer. Several weeks ago, I was feeding Buck and Rupert by illumination from my car's headlights at 4:30 pm. Now there is still plenty of light at 4:30.

We've had frequent snowfalls over the last couple of weeks, and I've been honing my snowplowing skills on a regular basis. We have more snow piled this year than any other, and it's still not even mid January.

Rupert

2008-12-28T16:12:00.000-08:00

Buck Enjoying A Sunny Afternoon

2008-12-28T16:05:00.000-08:00

Rudy

2008-12-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

2008-12-28T15:08:00.000-08:00

My Christmas gift from Mike this year was a fantastic digital SLR camera, which will take lots of learning how to use. Paddy, our daughter Jen's ancient poodle, who was rescued from the streets of Suncheon, South Korea, posed for me on boxing day.

Into the Deep Freeze

2008-12-15T17:41:00.000-08:00

The weather turned to winter late last week, and today we are into the -30's. On Friday, we had steady snow all day, accumulating about 6". The winds kicked up overnight, and we woke Saturday morning to 2' snowdrifts, and a winter wonderland. We woke this morning to -36C.

We are staying inside a lot in this extreme cold. The dogs venture out to do their business, but are ready to come back inside after a couple of minutes...too chilly for their feet. Buck is unperturbed by the cold, but Rupert isn't impressed with the extreme days of winter. On Saturday morning half of Rupert's pen was chest deep in drifted snow (keep in mind that Rupert's chest isn't that far from the ground). Mike scraped it all with the tractor, making getting around a lot easier.

Mike spent a couple of very cold hours yesterday afternoon plowing the driveway, around the house and creating easy access to feed Buck and Rupert.

Our woodstove is going around the clock, and things are warm and cozy inside.

The camera has been found and charged...I will get Mike to take some outdoor photos tomorrow...it's just becoming light when I leave for work, and it's twilight as I make my way home.

Mild and Mushy

2008-12-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

That about sums up the weather recently! It didn't even freeze last night...no scraping required when heading to work this morning. There's a couple of inches of snow on the ground, but nothing much to speak of. Very unusual conditions for this time of year. Colder days are forecast, but still above normal temperatures.

All is well in our little corner of the boreal forest. We are awaiting the return of Michael and Cody...they'll be here either tomorrow or Wednesday, and will be staying home till after Christmas! They have been east for the last little while, in Ontario and "La Belle Province". We decided it was hardly worth being home for a week and then going out for less than two weeks, so they will be home for four weeks. Jen will soon be joining us too!

We are heading into the darkest days of winter...but only a few more weeks and the days will begin to lengthen again. To be honest, I have hardly given the receding daylight a moment's thought. I've been incredibly busy for the last several weeks, winding up one job, juggling a teaching contract, and starting a great new full time job. Actually, I guess I have paid the early darkness some heed, as I'm now serving dinner to the equines of the family by illumination supplied by my car's headlights when I get home from work!

Soon I'll have to face the fact that it's getting to be "deck the halls" and "fa la la la la" time of year again. There's a trip to Kamloops in the offing on the weekend for truck maintenance, so I think we may do some shopping then. 'Tis the season!

Burning

2008-11-19T18:39:00.000-08:00

There's something very satisfying about reducing an enormous stump pile to a heap of ashes. This afternoon I renewed our industrial burn permit and lit up the huge stump pile near the back fence...this was taken about two hours later. Tomorrow after work I'll use the tractor to pile up the outer edge stuff that didn't burn today, and possibly light up pile number two.

On a Soggy Sunday ...

2008-11-16T16:44:00.000-08:00

This morning was drippy, soggy, melty and foggy...a fine morning for a slight sleep-in, which meant waking at 6:30 a.m. instead of my usual 5:30. After the critter related chores I headed for the kitchen to bake a batch of very tasty pumpkin spice muffins.

Mid morning, I opened the front door expecting four damp dogs to rush in, only to see all of them wandering around happily together half way down the field. This is a first...since Rudy joined our family several months ago, Lucy has been somewhere between not very nice and downright nasty to him. There has been a subtle change of dynamics between them over the last couple of weeks, and today for the first time she let him join the pack without banning him to the periphery.

Once all the dogs were back in the house, I headed to Cache Creek to meet Mike for lunch...he is on his way to Surrey from Weyburne SK. The roads were wet, and there was some patchy fog...I headed for home by 2:30 to avoid driving in the dark. Cody was very happy to see me! (I think Mike was too.)

I'm going to light the woodstove, and hunker down for the evening.

7 a.m. on Thursday

2008-11-14T16:06:00.000-08:00

Another lovely sunrise this morning. The clouds thickened, and by 9:30 the snow began to fall...there's about 1/2 an inch on the ground, and it's plenty windy out there.

If Rupert Had His Way....

2008-11-12T18:35:00.000-08:00

...I would be facing animal neglect charges from the SPCA.

I'm usually able to make a quick trip home from work at lunch time to let the dogs out and give Buck and Rupert some hay, as well as to dig through the fridge to find some lunch of my own. Today, I was the guest of honour at an unexpected work-related luncheon, and got to have a very nice meal. And when that was over, so was my break and any chance to coddle the creatures.

I left home very early this morning to do a home visit, knowing I'd be swamped all day at work, and made it back to the office exactly at quitting time, but with half an hour of paperwork and data entry still to do.

I arrived home late and in darkness, to be greeted by the hysterical braying of a donkey who firmly believed he was being deliberately starved to death (I actually gave him plenty of extra hay this morning in case I didn't get home during the day...and given Rupert's rotundness, it would take many months for him to wither away to nothing). The dogs were all doing the "pee-pee dance", but luckily had all managed to control their bladders till I could let them out.

Every one is fed and watered, Rupert is finally placated, and I'm settled in for the evening. It was a long day at work.

April Revisited

2008-11-09T15:49:00.000-08:00

The snow from early in the week has melted, and the last two nights have been above freezing. The resultant mud is more like what we see in April than what I'd expect for mid November. Most of the mud is generated by Buck near the fence where I feed him, but the dogs have also been tracking it in for the last two days. Sixteen dirty paws make a lot of mess!

The sky has cleared this afternoon, so I'm pretty confident all the muck will be frozen and non-messy again by tomorrow.

Here's a picture of Rupert, taken Tuesday.

Another Sunrise

2008-11-06T17:45:00.000-08:00

Here's the scene that met me & the dogfaces when we went out this morning to take Buck and Rupert their morning hay. Sunrises this time of year can be breathtaking.

A little more snow today... slightly warmer weather forecast for the coming days though. Our new and very fabulous woodbox (thanks, Gary!) is filled with enough firewood to last two or three days, so I'll be staying cozy and warm. I love wood heat...it's constant and comforting.

Red Sky In the Morning...

2008-11-05T18:07:00.000-08:00

Here was the sunrise yesterday morning...

And here's what happened for the rest of the day!

The dogs love the snow...(Jasper and Cody)

And the chickadees love their peanuts.

So, yes, we are all alive and well here. I haven't posted for weeks, and I thought I'd better update so you didn't think we'd fallen off the face of the earth, or even worse. So, what has been getting in the way of blogging? Um, life. I recently finished working 15 consecutive days and lived to tell about it. There have been plenty of pre-winter chores to do, and Mike and Cody have just headed back out after 10 days at home.

I've actually been devoting most of my computer time for the last couple of months to following the US election. I've become somewhat of a political junkie, and spent the afternoon and evening yesterday following the election coverage. What a great day for the United States...the metaphorical tide is turning.

Meanwhile, back on the homestead, yesterday was first real dump of snow for the season, and everything this morning was pristine. Things melted a bit today. The roads are in good shape.

Buck and Rupert had their season-finale pedicures yesterday, and are all set for winter.

Brrrrrrr!

2008-10-09T20:11:00.001-07:00

It was a very nippy -9.5 degrees here this morning, warming up to about 5 degrees in the afternoon. I made an impromptu excursion to Kamloops today; it was a glorious day for driving. After the obligatory mug of tea upon arriving home, I finally got out into the garden. I mixed some sand and composted manure (thanks Buck and Rupert!) into one of the raised beds, and got the garlic planted. I hope I didn't leave it too late; if I did, I'll consider it a lesson learned and plant in September. If not, I'll probably procrastinate even more and leave it till November next year.

Mike and Cody are lounging around in Lansing, Michigan for the next 36 hours, and will be delivering steel to somewhere in Illinois on Monday morning.

All is well in our corner of the woods tonight.

Season's Greetings!

2008-10-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

I woke to the first snowfall of the season this morning! We had heavy, wet flakes for a couple of hours, then some rain.

When the rain stopped, I decided to cut back some perenniels in the flower bed, and then finished digging out the last of the potatoes from the garden. There are still rutabagas, carrots, turnips and parsnips to bring in.

Mike and Cody are in northern Ontario today. The dogs and I are staying cozy inside this afternoon. There's a fire going in the woodstove, and the kettle is on for an afternoon cuppa.

Autumn

2008-10-03T19:54:00.000-07:00

After a beautiful "Indian Summer" extending into October, yesterday the weather turned and we were treated to a minor wind storm.
One of our aspens just behind the greenhouse snapped off. We have a few new leaning trees in the forest too. Except for two days of rain a couple of weeks ago, we have had a fantastic early fall. It was 25 degrees here on October 1st, and that night we slept with the bedroom windows wide open.

The fall colours are at their peak, and the trees are beginning to lose their leaves quickly now.

Mike and Cody left yesterday after a week at home; they are in Edmonton tonight and on their way to Montreal. Cody will have a new province to add to his travel list. And not only is Cody a great little trucker, he finds moose, too! On Wednesday morning after Mike let the dogs out for their usual 6 a.m. outing the big dogs were hanging out on the porch waiting to come right back in, but Cody was out in the pasture barking. Mike went to investigate, and found a big cow moose. I got myself out of bed with the camera, but it was too dark and the pictures didn't turn out.

Rupert is back to being enclosed in his pen (which is actually the size of a generous back yard on a city lot). We spent Sunday afternoon revamping the fence and adding a farm gate so we can get the tractor into his pen in the winter to clear the snow (it gets past his belly height!) so he'll be able to get around better. He has been lame for a week (that's the second time since August), and is doing much better since he's been confined a bit. When it's hay feeding season, he needs to be kept separate from Buck, as he polishes off his own rations, and then goes and shares Buck's as well. He is prone to hoof abscesses, and has a history of foundering. We're not sure what's going on, and he's been seen several times in the past by the vet for the same symptoms. He's getting bute for pain in delicious but small bran mashes, and seems to be doing just fine since we've been able to curtail his gorging.

Both Buck and Rupert are getting very fuzzy in readiness for the cold weather. I'll make them a farrier appointment next week, and they'll be all set for winter.

September

2008-09-11T12:42:00.001-07:00

We've been in the South Cariboo nearly three years (already!), and after watching the seasons move several times through their cycle, I am declaring September to be my very favourite month of the year.

I love the cool crisp mornings (we've had frosts nearly every morning for the past two weeks), and I love seeing the subtle changes in the foliage each day. I like that the mosquitoes are gone, and that I can comfortably work outside with a sweatshirt or hoodie on. I like the fall chores...filling the woodshed, cutting kindling, planting the garlic, putting in bulbs, bringing in root vegetable from the garden, and burning branches and roots and that never-ending logging debris. I like knowing that there's enough hay in the hayshed to last until next August. I look forward to getting out my favourite sweaters. Tonight I'll roast my first pan of exclusively home grown root vegetables...potatoes, carrots, onions, parsnips, turnips, rutabagas, and beets...drizzled with olive oil, and flavoured with rosemary.

A few photos from a beautiful September day...

Rudy.

Aspens beginning to turn to gold.

Buck shaking things up.

Rupert

Fireweed

Okay, an Update...

2008-09-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

One of my faithful readers, "Retired in Vancouver", has gently reminded me I'm overdue in putting up a new post.

We've been busy... Mike and Cody were home for two weeks, the time flew! Thanks to my mom & dad's dogsitting service during their weeklong visit, we were able to enjoy a quick getaway to Jasper, Alberta. We got some of the insulation done in the shop (we need to rent a scissor lift to finish), painted the laundry room and installed our new washer and dryer, we've cut up and hauled windfallen trees, done lots of small scale burning, harvested veggies from the garden, and generally had a nice time. I drove Mike down to Surrey on Wednesday morning as the truck was at Cummins, and he arrived back home Thursday night as he got dispatched to Edmonton & didn't have to deliver till Monday. He and Cody left midmorning today, so they actually had 2 1/2 weeks here.

How are the animals? Well, Buck's leg is almost healed. Rupert is fine, and pleased that Cody has gone trucking again. Both Buck and Rupert are beginning to grow warm coats in readiness for the colder weather that's on its way.

Cody has taken great delight in tormenting Rupert, and is very lucky that he hasn't been kicked. He went to the groomer for a haircut on Saturday as he was getting scruffy. Rumour has it that he sounded like he was being skinned alive while he was being bathed!

Gosh, Rudy is a nice dog. He's been with us for nearly a month...he is very good natured and friendly. We had him at the vet's on Tuesday; he's got a nasty ear infection that he's had since he arrived. It's hard to get an appointment at our vet clinic these days, they are one doc short, as Brian broke his leg a few weeks ago when a horse fell on him. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Anyway, Rudy is getting ear drops and ear washes, and he puts up with it all like a trooper. He'd be completely happy if Lucy didn't spend half her time trying to intimidate him.

Lucy doesn't much care for Rudy yet. She watches his every move, and tries to keep him away from the other dogs.

Dear old Gilly is plodding along. His gait has become a bit odd at times, and he forgets we're outside with him, and barks to get back in the house because he thinks we've abandoned him. He is happy and in no distress. He made many trips to the end of the field with us last weekend.

And Jasper is...Jasper. Goofy as ever.

Molly is keeping the mouse population under control, and doesn't spend much time inside these days.

I've had lots of days off work for the last couple of weeks, and have been back to the grindstone since Friday.

Will put up some photos soon.

The Tall and the Small

2008-08-26T04:07:00.000-07:00

Our birdfeeders are a flurry of activity these days. The migratory birds are stuffing themselves prior to journeying to warmer places, and the locals are gorging too. Woodpeckers are year round residents, and their populations have increased in recent years due to the bounty left behind by beetle-killed pines. The peanut feeder is a bit tricky for them to access; they have to cling to the tree trunk and lean over. The smallest is a downy wookpecker, and the larger, a hairy woodpecker. They are very similar in appearance & markings.

I've Been Everywhere, Man!

2008-08-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

Cody Amos gets around! So far in his travels with Mike, he has been in: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey...not bad for a little guy who's only 9 months old! Mike has moved into the 21st century today and learned how to download and attach photos...so you'll be seeing more of their travels. Tonight they are in Tucson, AZ.

Cody is a good little traveller and is excellent company for Mike. Very soon they'll be home for some well deserved R&R.

This One Goes Out to the One I Love...

2008-08-11T19:42:00.000-07:00

These beautiful flowers were on my desk when I arrived at work this morning. Thank you, Mike, and Happy Anniversary! Today is our eighth anniversary; how the time has flown, and how our lives have changed in those eight years!

Tonight Mike is in Utah, on his way to Tuscon, Arizona.

Our canine family has once again grown by one! We welcome Rudy (formerly Brutus). His owner died on Thursday, leaving him without a caregiver. He is a lovely, active, gentle Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and is about 8 years old. He was an only dog, and is learning how to fit into the pack. He's not really interested in posing for photos at the moment, so this is the best I could do for now.

A Midsummer Night's Fire

2008-07-31T17:22:00.000-07:00

I'm celebrating the last day of July by lighting the woodstove. It's a gloomy, damp 9 degrees outside, and it was chilly inside when I got in from work. Things are warming up nicely.

And Suddenly it Was Almost Two Weeks Later!

2008-07-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

Time flies. Very quickly.

I've been meaning to blog, but life seems to have gotten in the way. And that's probably a good thing. We've been doing lots of routine little chores, and enjoying the yields of the garden...lettuce galore (we have a "gourmet mix" of about 5 varieties), chard, strawberries (just enough to make a fresh picked snack), lots of herbs, rhubarb. The other veggies are slow, but coming along very gradually. Next year things will get a head start; I have splurged and ordered a super duper 3 tier stand & grow lights from Lee Valley...it should be arriving next week!

The creatures, tall and small are all doing fine. Cody was a joyful little whirlwind for his ten days home; he and Mike are close to Winnipeg tonight. Buck's leg is coming along at a snail's pace...he and Rupert had pedicures last Monday. Jasper hovered close by and devoured all the hoof trimmings.

This afternoon I fired up the log splitter and split a large pile of last year's logs. I will stack them after work tomorrow.

I'll endeavour to be a better blogger...and will leave you tonight with a recent sunset.

Rupert

2008-07-14T19:18:00.000-07:00

Rupert keeping an eye on things.

The Critters

2008-07-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

Here's Buck, grazing in the clover. The clover got planted around the house last year as a low maintenance dust suppressant, and has more or less taken over everywhere. It is very invasive. Buck gets to graze on it for an hour or two most days.

Cody, Jasper and Lucy having a good time!

Gillis looking dignified. He's hard of hearing and a bit confused sometimes, but he's going strong at 12.

Molly taking a dust bath.

Volunteers

2008-07-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

This spring I was surprised to find some volunteer garlic growing happily in last year's bed. I thought I'd got it all last summer, but obviously I missed a few cloves. I'll leave the other bed for a few more weeks, but I pulled these this morning to make room for some fall chard I want to sow. These seem mostly to be one or two giant cloves per bulb. Sadly, I lost my detailed list of all the garlic varieties I planted the year before last, so I don't know what varieties I have.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things are busy here. I am in an ongoing war with weeds, and don't seem to be winning the battle. I've been burning roots and branches in the side pasture this morning, just a very small contained fire.

We had frost on Friday morning. My pathetic little bean plants died once and for all...no great loss as they were struggling big time to get going. The top leaves of the potatoes got some frost damage too, but they will be okay. Gardening at 3800 ft can be challenging; we can have frost any month of the year, although we're usually okay from early June to mid August.

Mike was home for a couple of days, and will be back for a week in a few days. Cody is staying here with me this week.

Buck's leg is coming along slowly but surely...I am still dressing it every day or two. He is well and comfortable.

The Mother Lode...

2008-07-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

I posted last year about my four-leaf clover finding prowess. Tonight I have outdone myself!

Canada Day

2008-07-01T16:51:00.000-07:00

Happy 141st Birthday, Canada! I worked at the hospital this morning, and I'm having a leisurely afternoon at home.

This afternoon thunderheads have gathered, and we are being serenaded by distant and not so distant rumbles. Thunder makes Lucy nervous, Gillis can't hear it anymore, and Jasper is oblivious. Buck and Rupert don't seem bothered at all. I enjoy thunderstorms, except for the fire risk they pose in the summer.

The past few days have been very hot; too warm to be outside doing anything except first thing in the morning or later in the evening.

My veggie garden is starting to take off; it has been so cold and wet that nothing much has happened until the last week or two. I've had fresh mixed lettuce, baby chard and rocket salads for the last couple of days. Yesterday I thinned the turnips and hoed some of the very prolific weeds.

This is our worst year for mosquitoes since we moved here...the late wet spring and cool damp early summer have provided ideal conditions for them. We still have several patches of standing water which have normally dried up in May. I'm not a DEET fan, but it's that or stay inside these days. There's usually a welcoming mosquito coil burning just outside the front door.

The Lone Butte General Store Burned Last Night

2008-06-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

This morning I left home around 6:30 a.m. for a trip to Kamloops before the heat of the day. I was very surprised to see six fire trucks and an ambulance in "downtown" Lone Butte! The store had caught fire in the night. Because it's a metal building, it's hard to gage the damage, but I'm sure it's pretty much a total loss. Three volunteer fire departments responded, and their efforts helped prevent disaster, as there are gas pumps and a huge propane tank on the lot.

The loss of the store is a big loss for a small community. It also serves as a gas station, and a liquor store. I hope they'll soon rebuild.

Cody Amos...before and after

2008-06-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

Little Cody was getting a tad too scruffy...so he had a very serious haircut!

With his long hair, he looks like a quintessential teddy bear. With the very warm places Cody and Mike go on their travels, he needed something a little cooler for summer...

And here he is, fresh from the beauty parlour! He'll be much more comfy during the warm months.

Catching Up

2008-06-18T17:50:00.001-07:00

Sorry to leave you looking at an ugly wound for over a week! My rock garden is much prettier.

Life here is ticking along as it should...Buck is doing fine, and though he needs daily dressing changes, he has full mobility and is very comfortable. All the creatures are well

Mike will be home in a couple of days! He has been to Pennsylvania (or was it Ohio?), to Winnipeg, to Texas, then Minnesota, and will finally be delivering in Kelowna. He avoided the most severe weather and flooding in the midwest, but was within areas with tornado warnings for three consecutive days.

My parents have been here for the past week; the weather improved a little for a few days, but today we have relapsed to cold and wet. Late morning, the rain stopped long enough for us to go on an outing; we circumnavigated Green Lake, and had a pub lunch before coming home. We saw a ground squirrel, bluebirds, an eagle, a deer on our travels. This afternoon I went into town to the feed store and on the way home, a lovely red fox darted across Horse Lake Road in front of me!

More soon...hope all is well with you!

The Not so Pretty...a basic lesson in equine wound care

2008-06-08T20:59:00.000-07:00

The above photo is a bit gross; it's Buck's wound. It looks a slightly revolting, but it is progressing as it should. Horses' lower leg wounds are tricky to deal with. There are plenty of bones, tendons, ligaments and blood vessels, but very little muscle tissue. They are not often stitched because the strain and movement of the limb will generally tear out any sutures. Neat tidy wounds that are sutured heal quickly by a process called primary intention; the edges knit themselves together and soon all is well. Ugly wounds like Buck's can't heal that way. Instead, they heal from the wound base to the surface, and from the wound edges to the centre. This is called healing by secondary intention. It can be a long, slow, tedious business.

Buck hurt himself two ways, first with a traumatic injury, and then with prolonged pressure, which caused further tissue damage. Tissue denied blood flow for a long period will die. The dead stuff can present several ways; as hard black leathery eschar, or as grey or yellowy stringy slough, either loosely or firmly attached. Before a wound can heal, the dead tissue needs to be removed. The best and most conservative way to remove it is to keep it moist, but not wet, and it will gradually come away from the wound, once that stuff is out of the way, the wound can heal.

`
Horses are different from people and other animals in that their wounds will often hypergranulate, or form excessive tissue ("proudflesh"). Some of the wound products we use on people shouldn't be used on a horse because of this.

Buck's first week of treatment has consisted getting of a bucket of grain every afternoon and happily munching while I cut away the old dressing. Next comes cleaning the wound with water. We don't take a garden hose to people wounds, but it's just the ticket for a horse. It helps clean the wound, and wash away any sloughing necrotic stuff. Next comes an antimicrobial silvercoated dressing which fits right into the wound, then a non adherent dressing, followed by kling gauze bandaging, and finally an outer layer of vetwrap, which is among the best things ever invented.

I'll be watching Buck carefully for signs of infection. A wound that is unhealed for any length of time will be colonized with bacteria, and that's normal (actually, we're all covered with bacteria all the time!). If they become invasive, or if the wrong bacteria are introduced to the wound, then problems can arise. The dressing is a bit stinky when it's removed, and that's normal too. It's absorbing drainage from dead tissue, and dead stuff smells after a while! What you need to do is get rid of the dressing, clean the wound, and then have a whiff...it shouldn't smell. I'll be noting the amount and colour of the drainage. I'll be checking his leg by comparing it to the healthy one for warmth or swelling. I'll be noting how he walks, and whether he favours the leg. I'll be checking to make sure he's eating and drinking well, and if I was concerned about any of these things, I'd check his temperature and call the doc. We might then swab the wound to see what bacteria are growing, and put him back on an antibiotic. I don't expect these complications, but they may arise.

I'm awaiting a product called Equaide to arrive, and then we'll switch to that. That little pink nub near the front edge of the wound is hypergranulation tissue.

Thus endeth the lesson. You probably didn't want to know all that, but perhaps you learned something new today.

(Sorry for the odd paragraph spacing, Blogger won't let me space them with a blank line tonight!)

Pretty Things...

2008-06-08T20:26:00.001-07:00

I meant to post these pics early last week, but got involved with horse nursing and forgot about them. Buck is doing well; he had his last shot of penicillin today, thank goodnes. He has gotten quite "needle shy", and gets antsy in anticipation of the injection. Nadine came by for the last two shots to hold him, it made a very big difference!

Molly hiding out under the weeping birch. She spends time here hoping for birds to land in the tree. Fortunately, they prefer a nearby spruce.

Heart-leafed arnica. They are very prolific here this year, and thrive in recently disturbed soil.

Early blue violets.

A slightly blurry fairyslipper orchid. They bloomed very late here this year due to the late, cold spring.

An Update

2008-06-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

Again, it seems I only posted a couple of days ago.

I have been going full tilt for the last little while; firstly learning the ropes of the new job I started last week (home care nursing), and secondly nursing poor Buck. He has a very nasty leg wound which he sustained from pushing the fencing down and then tripping and getting tangled in it. I found him down and motionless on Monday after work. Rupert quietly kept vigil, offering some comfort, I'm sure. Buck was incredibly good and quiet while I made an emergency phone call for help and while I cut the fencing away from him. I had to break off a fence post, and then he was able to get up just as Nadine arrived. Bernie and Cliff came next and soon we had Buck medicated for pain and had his wound cleaned and covered, and Bernie and Nadine patched the fence back together. I was so grateful for their help.

Our vet Gord came by within the hour, sedated Buck and examined the wound. It is deep and nasty with bone, tendon and artery all visible, but thankfully intact. Gord elected not to suture the wound as the stitches would almost certainly tear out, based on the location (just below left hind fetlock). So my afternoons all week have involved wound care and dressings, and giving huge injections of penicillin. Buck is very tolerant of having his leg messed with, but not so much about getting needles in the a$$.

The weather has been mainly cool and wet for the past days. The garden is slow to get established, but the weeds grow rampantly. The back meadow remains under water, and the standing water left after snow melt keeps getting replenished, so we have several temporary ponds on the property.

Things are good today, and I am content.

Wednesday

2008-05-28T12:56:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I came home to find Buck happily lounging in Rupert's pen; this morning he was leisurely browsing on clover outide the front door. He has become a houdini! I have not yet figured out how he's doing this; the fenceline is intact.

This morning shows promise of being a lovely day. I don't start work today until 10 a.m., so I'll have a while to putter outside after the kettle boils and I have my morning tea. I bought some herbs and tomato plants on the way home from work yesterday, so I'll plant them today or tonight.

Rupert last eveing having a dusty nap. He looks terribly shaggy at the moment; his winter coat is coming out very slowly and in patches.

We had our first rhubarb of the season on Sunday! The plants are threatening to take over the entire bed; they'll be moved to the big garden in the fall.

This little chard plant survived the winter!

Gardens and Clotheslines

2008-05-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, it seems I haven't blogged in over a week...I could've sworn it was just a couple of days ago. Oh well, back at it again.

Mike was home all last week, and we got some projects done. The new garden bed is fully fenced, dogproofed, and mostly planted. So far I've put in peas, potatoes, bush beans (dodgy, as we can have frost any month of the year), two types of carrots, beets, swiss chard, turnips, rutabagas, two types of parsnips, leeks, cauliflower & basil (in the green house). I haven't made a trek to the garden centres yet to get tomatoes and zucchini; maybe after work tomorrow.

And I finally have a clothesline! (Which explains why it's been raining for the last couple of days.) Nothing smells better than clothes, towels and bedding fresh off a clothesline. And we can be a little greener, by not using the dryer & fabric softener very often.

We spent yesterday afternoon getting the truck stocked and packed up, and Mike and Cody set off in the early hours of the morning. They are on their way to Pennsylvania! It seems very quiet here without Cody Amos...I haven't been apart from him for more than a few hours since his arrival at the end of February. It's odd having my shoes stay beside the door; I usually have to track them down when he's around.

Photos tomorrow!

Saturday Shots

2008-05-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

Here's how Lucy keeps her teeth all pearly white.

Cody...when Mike arrived home in the truck this morning, Cody jumped right in - by himself! I'd never have thought he'd be able to do that.

Our aspens are in leaf today! Last year they greened up on May 12.

Best lawnmower in town. Buck has lost most of his winter coat, and is looking spiffy.

Home Again!

2008-05-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

What a difference nearly three weeks makes! We left home with snow on the ground and no sign of Spring's imminent arrival, and returned home yesterday morning to find that summer has arrived! It is unseasonably warm, and the only thing that seems odd is that there are no leaves yet on the trees. Any day now they should be out. There are daffodils blooming here that were barely peeking up through the soil, and I have a gorgeous pasque flower in bloom. The hummingbirds are busy at the feeders, and the air is full of birdsong.

The big dogs were excited to see us come home, and Cody had a wonderful reunion with them. He spent about two hours zooming around at high speed, and I think he exhausted himself, as he's much quieter today. Jen looked after things for us while we were away, and had to be on her way south in the afternoon as she and Lee are going camping for the long weekend.

I spent a couple of hours early this morning doing some clover and dandelion removal from my flower garden, and Buck came out of the pasture to graze on some of our very prolific clover "lawn". Rupert was indignant at being left behind, but clover is too rich for him. (he's at risk to founder, which is laminitis of the feet caused by too rich of a diet; donkeys should eat quite a spartan diet).

I took a quick trip into town this morning to check out the Farmer's Market, and came home with two bags of seed potatoes, Yukon Gold and Nova Scotia Blue. Our major project for the coming week has to be enclosing the new veggie garden. The dogs have been romping and digging there, and I want to plant next weekend. Jasper won't survive another episode of eating all my carrots, either!

On The Road...

2008-04-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

Karen and Cody are joining Mike on a trucking adventure...we leave for almost three weeks in the wee hours of Monday morning! We're leaving the farm in the best of hands, and going who-knows-where.

The Inman Road Chronicles will be on sabbatical for a few weeks...but I'll still be blogging. Follow us on our travels at The Ravenwood Diaries ! First post will be up Monday night.

We Seem to be Living in Narnia

2008-04-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

Here's what's at the back of the wardrobe.

Oh. Joy.

2008-04-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

It's doing it again. It's almost May.

Winter Called...Again

2008-04-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

We had one last visit from Winter before she packs up and heads to Palm Springs, or wherever the heck it is that she hangs out in the off season.

Saturday morning was -14, we had snow all day, with biting winds and a windchill factor of minus plenty. Just as cold this morning, but without the winds. It didn't get above zero today.

Winter seems to be having one last kick at the can everywhere. Yesterday, my dad sent these pics from their place in the eastern Fraser Valley. Poor little birds! The orange one is a male rufous hummingbird, the green is a female. The hummingbirds haven't arrived in our area yet, but it won't be too long. We get rufous and caliope hummingbirds in profusion during the summer months.

Happy, happy birthday Mom!

Various and Sundry things...

2008-04-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

Toady Amos was neutered yesterday, and last evening was peaceful bliss as he slept off the lingering effects of anesthesia and analgesia. Today we are back to normal, except with me trying to keep him quiet and somewhat subdued. Um, it's not working very well. But I'm doing my best. Only four weeks till Mike assumes custody of the Toad, and my life returns to normal. Then I'll miss him to bits!

This afternoon while I was giving Buck and Rupert their hay, I looked at their heated water tub, and thought to myself, "Self, any time now you can put away the heated water tub, and replace it with the regular one. Spring is springing, and it's not that cold at night now. At worst, there will be a light skim of ice on the water in the morning. I'll put that on my to-do list for tomorrow." And in I came to look at the weather forecast online for affirmation that the nights are indeed not that cold anymore. Weekend lows are predicted to be minus 15. I give up. And I'm not switching water tubs till July.

In eleventh hour drama, on the way home from work, I reinsured both vehicles a whole 8 hours before their insurance expired. I may procrastinate, but I get things done eventually. I only procrastinate when things are going to cost money, however. Expecting nice refunds, I did our income tax returns and e-filed them as soon as every annoying T slip had arrived.

What else? The seeds I planted on Saturday that I neglected to report are sprouting nicely on the window sill. (Lee Valley couldn't make good on getting my grow lights to me before May) So far I have lettuce, radicchio, and cauliflower happening, and am waiting for the leeks, basil and rudbeckia to emerge.

No photos today; the camera needs charging.

Old Man's Beard

2008-04-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

A Study in Chartreuse

2008-04-13T10:19:00.000-07:00

I think I'll call you..."lunch"

2008-04-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Surprise attack!

Moving in for the kill...

The pack shares the meal.

(No Cody's were harmed in the making of this post)

In The Garden..

2008-04-12T18:42:00.000-07:00

The warmest temperatures of the year, and accompanying Chinook winds have changed the surrounding scenery here on an hourly basis today. The raised beds are almost completely clear of snow, and the rock garden is beginning to emerge. The new garden patch remains completely hidden though. There is water pooling on the driveway, and my homemade river is raging! At a glance, the property is still very white, but things are emerging hourly.

Rock cress (aubretia( ready to bloom in the rock garden! There are no sign of snowdrops yet.

Strawberry plant just unmulched to expose healthy green leaves.

My biggest surprise today was the survival and apparent thriving of the Italian parsley!

The Egyptian onions also made it through the winter. No hint of the garlic yet, but it won't be long before it shows itself.

Tomorrow is forecast to be a few degrees cooler, though still warm enough to do lots of melting. After that, it's back to +5/-5 temperatures for a while again.

Pining for the Pines

2008-04-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

A few of the remaining dead pines on the property, victims of the pine bettle epidemic. We cleared about 2 acres last spring, the remaining few will come down this year. The smallest dead pines are falling over unassisted, rotting at the roots.

The standing dead trees host fodder for the multitude of woodpecker and sapsucker species that live in the area, and will eventually warm us in the winter as firewood.

The very young pines are surviving, though we don't have that many on the property.

Survivors

2008-04-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled to find that my oregano and thyme have survived the long winter when they emerged from under their snowy blanket this afternoon! It's too early to tell about the sage just yet.

There's a small patch of wild juniper in our front woods. Not very common in this area, but prolific up near Williams Lake.

Cody Amos, Cute and Famous

2008-04-08T15:19:00.000-07:00

Here's Cody apres beauty salon...and not quite as poofy as when he first got home. Between then and photo, he'd been out in a snow storm, and lost some of the bouffant-ness on top of his head!

Colder today, and very little melting going on. We're having frequent flurries, and I'm hanging on to hope that the weather guy is correct in his warm weather predictions for the weekend.

Emergence!

2008-04-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

This, people, is the monumental emergence of my first raised garden bed from under the snow! Rejoice, rejoice! This one is the garlic bed.

And this, the Inman Road river, which currently flows from the northwest side to the southeast side of the driveway, and its sole purpose is to divert meltwater from the driveway. It was created with a very ancient adze, and is maintained with the heel of my gumboot. Things are starting to get good and melty during the daytime, and the lessening snow mass is very noticeable. The weather guy is even predicting double digit daytime temperatures for the weekend - this is a very, very good thing.

Lucy and Cody. Cody just had a very traumatic experience...he got tangled up in a wild rose branch from his chin, and all along his undercarriage to his tail. He was hysterical and very uncomforatable, but eventually I was able to get him gently restrained on his back and snip away at it until it was all gone. He has his first appointment with Robert, the groomer tomorrow, and hopefully won't come home looking too poofy!

In the miscellany department, in the last week I've done two trips to Kamloops; one to pick Mike up, and another trip Saturday to take him to pick his truck up from the dealer. On Saturday morning we decided to go to Kamloops via Highway 24, and met blizzard conditions at Lac des Roches!

Thanks everyone for the birthday cards, calls, emails & FB posts on Saturday...I had tea and birthday cake for breakfast, and we had a great Japanese meal in Kamloops to mark the occasion.

What Happened in March?

2008-03-31T18:28:00.000-07:00

Between March first and thirty first, the snow melted off the driveway. And that's about the extent of it. The garden beds have over a foot of snow covering them still. Bah. Humbug. April had better warm up a little. Or else.

Hey Mom, Look What I Caught!

2008-03-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

Cody & Molly

A Hint of Spring

2008-03-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

I know it's coming, but it's hard to wait.

Friday

2008-03-28T06:46:00.000-07:00

Minus 17 degrees in the morning is seeming a little chilly for the time of year. True, it's clear and going to be a beautiful day, but, Jeez Louise, it's almost April.

Mike was heading from Delta to Edmonton yesterday, and due to all the snow on the Coquihalla he took the Fraser Canyon route instead. Cody and I drove (well, I did the driving) down to Cache Creek and met him for dinner! We spent a lovely hour together having a slightly less than gourmet meal at the restaurant at the Husky, and then we parted ways for a week. At the end of April, I'll be going truckin' with Mike for three weeks to who knows where. That will also mark the beginning of Cody's new career as a trucking buddy.

Poor Rupert!

2008-03-26T01:28:00.000-07:00

When I went out to feed the boys their evening hay, I found Rupert in his usual "feed me, it's dinnertime" spot, but instead of standing there looking starved and expectant, he was laying upside down, cast up against the fence. He was looking terribly unhappy - wildeyed and slightly sweaty, and was totally unable to roll back over to get himself up. Luckily for both of us, he was on some poop covered ice (there are some things not very pretty about the Cariboo in March), and after putting his halter on, I was able to drag/pivot him around and help him onto his chest. He immediately hoisted himself up, looked slightly embarrassed, and momentarily seemed quite grateful for my assistance. He quickly regained his composure, and tucked into his hay like absolutely nothing had happened.

Easter Sunday

2008-03-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

Silly me...on closer inspection of the jumble of USB cables connected at any given time to the PC, it seems the slightly evil, but extraordinarily cute Cody chewed the cable for the programmable tv remote control, rather than the one for the camera...so we're back in business with photos.

Buck and Rupert enjoying the sun, but trying to screen themselves from the wind.

Jasper

A dead aspen; note the woodpecker holes all over it.

Couldn't keep Cody still long enough to get a decent photo...maybe tomorrow.

Spring Cleaning & House Training

2008-03-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

On a scale of 1-10, my love for housekeeping sits somewhere around negative 6. But clean I must, and today I tackled the top of the kitchen cupboards for, um, the first time ever. Let's just say it wasn't a pretty sight. However, it's all done, and I've put paper towelling up top, so next time, it'll just be a quick paper change instead of major elbow grease.

It's a gorgeous sunny day, and very windy. A good wind helps decrease snow volume!

I have the kitchen timer set for hourly, to remind me to take Cody out on the leash to pee. The vet doesn't think there's much chance of a UTI, he thinks Cody is a busy little sh*t who has other things on his mind than where and when he should pee. I bought him a wire crate on Thursday to help matters, and he spent last night in there. We had a spot free night, and he did well when I took him out. If he just goes running out with the other dogs, he doesn't remember to pee. After they'd all been out for 20 minutes this morning, he came in and whizzed just inside the door. Anyway other than that, so far so good today. His neuter is booked for April 14.

Happy Easter, all!

What did you see on your way to work this morning?

2008-03-18T19:25:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to see a lovely cow moose idly browsing on willow branches!

We're alive and well, and there's very little going on in the great white north. (Insert repetetive whining about the snow here) The snow seems to be receding locally in all areas except ours...and I'm getting seriously fed up with its stubborn refusal to yield to more spring-like conditions. This time last year, the dogs and I were wandering all over the property, this year we're pretty much confined to the immediate area around the house and driveway. I knew that damned groundhog was going to be wrong this year!

My mom and dad came up for a quick weekend visit, and I think they were a little surprised by how wintery things still are here. Today is my dad's birthday...Many Happy Returns & lots of love!

Cody is well...teething and chewing and full of mischief. He and Lucy are off to see the vet on Thursday; Cody for shots, deworming and a general once over (it's possible that he may have a UTI, based on the fact that he'll go outside & pee, and then come in and pee inside three more times in the next hour), and Lucy for a renewal of her meds for her hips and other arthritic joints.

And now to light the fire, fill up the woodstove, and head to the nest to finish the latest Dick Francis novel.