Sunday, January 31, 2010

Feeding the Birds


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.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Yes, right...where was I?


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.

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Happiness is Rolling in the Dust



Rupert enjoying a good roll on a sunny afternoon.

A Treasure Map

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!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

And then it was Autumn

...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.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Rudbeckia


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.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

A Project for Fall


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.