Camping On Hold

My back is giving me trouble... another flare-up!  : (

End Of Summer

Well this is one of those rare mornings.  There is a wind blowing in from the south and quite heavily too (enough to make my bedroom door rattle and wake me up)! But it is a soft summer wind. A wind that carries with it the promise of tropical storms.  Somewhere I imagine, in the tropics, as the warm wind rushes to the north and us, a cool wind from up above in the further reaches of the stratosphere will come rushing in to replace it with rain and bitter reminders that even in the tropics, summer does not last. I love mornings where its overcast but still quite lovely. Tepid I think is the word that best describes this morning's weather. A sweet morning that tells the summer birds that it is time to move on.... there are no birds singing this morning... it is terribly quiet and already I miss the trill of the birds calling to each other. I imagine that the only place to hear them now would be at the side of the river, where warm winds and early morning fog sweetly tease and bid the birds to move ever southward.  This is the perfect morning for sailors, or a morning where the leaves on the trees dance their end of summer worship dance.  It makes me want to dance too... it makes me want to unfurl my sails and go exploring.

I have noticed that my old friend languor has come to visit me again. We have taken a trip to tranquility and I find that all thoughts of spinning and weaving and knitting have flown through the window. As a matter of fact... from the stack of dishes waiting to be done this morning I have been downright lazy.  I am reading and that is my excuse.  Daughter #2 and I had been entertaining ourselves watching old movies which allows me the time to spin or knit as I go. But we reached our capacity for movies and finally agreed that the public library was to be our source of entertainment. She has devoured five books to my one and a half. But we both have chosen books that will take us away to exotic locals. I have finished a book that takes place in 1860s Egypt, and am now reading a book that takes place in1930s Marrakesh... which takes me far from my armchair, far from my mundane chores. Last night I found myself, sitting in the light of the kitchen window with moths flittering around my head, with the balmy wind billowing the table cloth outside on the deck at midnight, and still the camels and the sand of pre-war Morocco kept me captive. And the books I am reading you ask? The Mistress Of Nothing by Kate Pulinger and The Saffron Gate by Linda Holeman, both very good reads.

In My Lady's Garden....

The carrots have come better than I could have imagined for so new a garden space....

But that is where the fineness of my garden ends.

We have three lovely zucchini plants.... and I thought I might get something good with them ... alas, the frost came two nights ago and put an end to that...

I will get one zucchini if all goes well it still has a bit of growing left to do.

The beets however, never came to anything. Teapot thinks it is because there was too much manure in the soil of that part of the garden therefore burning the beets before they got really started.

They are small and a daren't pull one since I will get so little yield anyway. I will harvest what I get... but I am not expecting much.

The tomatoes I grew in buckets on the deck but they were slow to come since I was late planting them and so as you see there will be nothing from them either.  The blooms have only just come on them and then two days ago the frost took my plants and they are looking very sad indeed.

Still the flowers were quite nice.... this picture does them no justice... that for sure.... marigolds and Dahlias and Alisum and Phlox are growing well The Lavatera just came out in time for the frost and so the blooms are there but the leaves have faded quickly.

I do think I was lulled into a wet year at the start and it made for lazy watering.... so they could have been better and I didn't have as many petunias (the store was out of them by the time I was ready to plant)... they always make a good show.

Tomorrow Teapot and I will take the girls for one last camping trip... (Monday to Friday if all goes well) I expect that if the weather continues in this manner I will be the only one submerging in the water.... it takes a great effort to lower myself beneath the cool waters but I always do... regardless of the sun shining...  and meanwhile the Daughters and Teapot look on in utter dismay thinking that the only time you can swim is when the sun is in full throttle. Still it will be a great opportunity to dip our paddles again... before the inclement weather of autumn is upon us.

The end of summer leaves me quite melancholy. I think I will go and read and submerge myself once again in the sunny climes of Marrakesh.

Once Upon A Time.....

..... there was a very heavy set lady, who on Friday morning remembered that since her husband was away,  it was up to her to get the garbage to the edge of the road in time for the garbage truck which came at about 8 a.m.  She rolled out of her bed and decided to let the rabble out so that they might go and pee and poo in the peace of the cool morning air while she was packing garbage bags to their fullest capacity with the garbage that was needing to be got rid of... ( I know... you're never supposed to end a sentence with of... but bare with me I'm not fully awake yet, though I should be.) She looked out the door and the doggies and kitties were milling about waiting for her to come out with them.  It was early about 7:30 a.m. and with some trepidation she stepped out fully dressed in her somewhat thread bare nighty with nothing else.... and I mean nothing not even a pare of skivies (undies for you non-Newfies).  She looked through the trees to her nearest neighbour and felt that it would be safe since her neighbour had left for work a few day before and was not expected back for at least a week since her job was in the oil fields.  With some trepidation she walked to the end of her driveway with two garbage bags... it was quite a walk in the cool morning air and soon she felt the perhaps a sweater would have been a good idea. But she carried on since turning back was just farther to go in the coolish morning air.. With trepidation still, she looked up the street for bears since there were no more houses that way just raw bush, and bears had been recently roaming the neighbourhood, and down the street aware that it was not unheard of to see people going to work at this time of the morning. She was aware that there was a slight fog down the road while up the road there was beautiful crisp clear air.... obviously the river fog was rolling in and out mightily. She put the garbage bags close to the edge of the road and noticed the lovely green rhubarb growing by the road at the end of her driveway that was not fit to eat because of both bitterness and roaming dogs lifting their legs against it but would be good if she picked the leaves for oxalic acid.  She bent over knowing that she was safe from onlookers since she had checked up the road and down the road.  She began plucking the leaves for a lovely batch of oxalic acid.  She picked and picked  until she had as many of the leaves as would fill her brewing pot.  That's when she heard a soft voice of an elderly gentleman.... "you know the rhubarb stalks are what you are supposed to pick." Jumping clear into the next century she came back to earth with rhubarb leaves covering her like the feathers of a burlesque fan. Strategic leaves covering her all too clear female parts in the light-coloured, back-lit, thread-bare nighty that she was wearing.... By that time, the elderly gentleman was moving along the road toward the clear end of the road....

Damn! The bugger came out of nowhere obviously he had been in the fog all along.

The end....

I'm now going to my bedroom to change out of this stupid nighty and put on some decent clothes..... obviously your not even safe in the blasted country!

I Forgot....

I seem to say that a lot these days.

After I finished posting yesterday I headed off into town to do what I said I was going to do.... Only I forgot the camera. Which means no pics as promised...  I can only tell you a little background leading up to the little/big renovation.  When my parents moved to this community after retiring they had had one bad experience after another with housing and buying and selling.... they always bought high and sold low for one reason or another mostly due to unforeseen circumstances.  So my Dad dug in and insisted that they would rent... which is difficult in a town where transients are coming and going all the time.  Friends of ours were selling and old mobile home and so we... Teapot and I... bought the mobile home so that my Mom and Dad had somewhere to live.We knew that the mobile home was old... but the price was right and we felt with a little work it could be fixed up. Mostly we have done superficial work... like painting the salmon pink kitchen cabinets white, putting up wall paper over the horrid turquoise wall board. Covering up the patchy flooring with new lino, and tearing out the carpet in the living room and laying new flooring there.  Two years ago the old front veranday was starting to rot away and so we tore that off and jacked up the front porch addition and put new supports under it and new steps/veranda on the front and new skirting around the whole thing. We freshened it all up with a coat of paint and made it look better.  We have over the year put in a new and more efficient furnace too. Finally this last year there started to be some problems with leaks forming in the bathroom. At first they were small leaks but they got more difficult to fix... now the bathroom has always been a bit of a problem... from the linoleum tub surround (yes you read that right... there was flooring on the walls) to the old tub painted brown on the outside, clearly something needed to be done.  Then the floor went squishy near the toilet... that was in January and a bad time to be renovating a bathroom... we made some minor repairs in an effort to be a stop gap till summer when renovating the bathroom would be more feasible. About two weeks ago we discovered another leak which was clearly the last straw as suddenly we realized that water had been leaking for sometime and was draining further than we would like... (that's an understatement by the way).  So I called a carpenter who worked on our house renovation a few years ago who we had been happy with and had him take a look.... He agreed to the job which was a great relief to me.

It was only after the walls were opened up what a great fiasco we were embarking on. The floor was fully rotten but luckily not the joists... but all the insulation had to go.  Thee exterior wall too was nothing but a load of rot and mold. Basically the carpenter had to strip the whole room down to just the casing and at one point there was nothing but the bare metal siding between the inside and the outside.  It was quite dramatic. 

I just love our carpenter/contractor... he is a gem... truly. He with fortitude, has dug us out of what really could easily have been a condemned building and has patched his way into fixing up what I swear I should have paid someone to light a stick of dynamite under.  He has framed in a new exterior wall... He has built up the floor again. He has vapour barriered everything. He has put up barker board. And he is now, this morning starting to put in the new large shower complete with medical grab bars for my Dad who needs them and a new higher than standard toilet, with a new vanity and sink. There will be a new ventilation system which hasn't worked in about twenty years from the look of it. There will be a new face for the door going in and there will be all new wall coverings and new subfloor and flooring.  I am so happy to know that Mom and Dad will have a bathroom that they can enter safely. He has replaced a lot of the old plumbing too which is great. Because of course that was the source of the problem in the first place. the only thing that worries me is that the electrical is quite old and while it met the requirements of the 1970s it surely does not meet code now... but there is nothing we can do about that... without tearing the whole thing apart... kitchen, bedrooms, living room, etc... and like I said I was more likely to take a stick of dynamite to it than do that.  But alls well that ends well... and hopefully in a few days the reno will be complete and it should outlast my parents... who after all, are well up in their 70s. 

So if only I can get the few things done around my house to finish our reno... I will be a very happy gal.... if a little forgetful.  I'm off to go check on the proceedings at the parent's place and maybe just maybe I might get a little time for some spinning today... I'm plying some alpaca for that logwood dyeing.... oh yeah and picking rhubarb leaves to stew up some oxalic acid.

Mid Month

Wow! Today is the 15th. Around here that is a significant date... These strange B.C. people open their moose season today. Today is the day that most people start thinking of as the end of the summer. They stop going into the bush for fear of being shot... (do I look like a moose?!! ... don't answer that please!) And actually what is strange is that Mother Nature in all her glory seems to agree. This morning I got up and came downstairs and put the rabble outdoors (that would be the cat and the three dogs)...and low and behold there is a change in the air. It is definitely feeling fallish out there this morning. I have been noticing small changes for a while now.  For instance... I have been noticing that the crows are flying around in flocks for a while now... you see we live so far north that crows migrate. (Not ravens though) So do Magpies.  They've been flocking for a few weeks too. Then for a while now the morning air is no longer filled with the songs of warblers but instead we are hearing the songs of Jays and Chickadees. That doesn't mean that there are no warblers around just that they are not singing in the morning like they were. The sparrows are thinning out too mice and squirrels are filling their winter caches. I guess that is why moose hunting season starts so early. Still I can't imagine having to skin and butcher a moose this time of the year. It would be ok if you shot your moose 5 a.m. and still had a few hours of coolness in the air but if you shot your moose in the middle of the day the meat would be fly covered in no time at all.

Teapot and I are hunters... we like to hunt for some of our meat... but for several years now Teapot and I have not been hunting.  Mostly because we never seem to get the time and by the time you pay for your license and bullets its a pretty big waste of money if you are not going to make a pretty serious effort and try to get an animal.  Instead we are concentrating on trying to finish some of the work that needs to be done around here. For instance, Teapot has promised three years standing to finish the roof on the electrical shed. So that is one goal that we will try to accomplish this year.  I also have a few small electrical things that need to be done. There are several electrical boxes that have never had the plug installed. There are some fixtures that need to be moved around, and new ones installed. The jacuzzi tub has an outlet for the plug but the outlet is to far away and so we have to move the outlet closer since an extension cord for so a large appliance is not really a good idea. Last but not least the wires for the light fixtures for the outside veranda need to be finished.  That for now would be awesome. Then later in the fall my intention is to finish the master ensuite but I will hire someone to do that. Mostly the renovation of two or three years ago has never been completed.... but all that is left is a whole lot of finish work... this, we finish a little at a time.

Obviously there is a shift in my thinking.... and I am putting it down to a shift in the weather.  Last week while we were camping nights were balmy and warm... but over the weekend night have become chilly and cool.  I am digging out warmer blankets for my bed and considering the sad state they are in I've even been looking at a new down blanket for our bed.  I am looking around the house at the dirty floor in the kitchen that has been tracked over with mess from outside after unloading the tent trailer and I'm beginning to think that it needs to be dealt with as apposed to putting it off till next week. Basically I'm beginning the huddle... I'm unconsciously thinking about the fall and and winter and preparations for weeks on end of cold unmerciful weather.

It was only a few days ago that I was reading one of my favorite blogs and the writer mentioned that it was the first day of school in her part of the world... now that was a bit of a shocker...! Perhaps I am thinking more about the winter huddle because more and more I am seeing back to school things coming in the mail... either way... for better or worse fall is coming.

Two things left... that I was thinking about....

1. Last week I began to notice that the under brush in the forest is beginning to change colours.  There is a whole lot more in the way of gold and yellow and a whole lot less in the way of green.

2. My damn washer is on the fritz again.  Last night I was washing bedding from the camping trip and the blasted thing is once again leaking water underneath... water was dripping down through the floor to the kitchen below and that means that there will be a new washer for us in the near future.  Which means a perfectly good dryer will have to go too. Why?.... because I have an upright and if I replace the washer I don't have enough room for the old dryer. So of course, that means a new dryer as well.  I think this time around I will get a stackable set instead. It also means that I can't do any laundry for the next week unless I take it to the laundromat. Teapot is away and can't look at it to fix it... I can buy a new one but won't be able to install it until he is home unless I hire some young studs to move it in. And Mom's and Dad's washer and dryer is out of use till next week because they are getting their bathroom renovated.  Argh!

Anyway... this is a fallish morning and I think I will need water hauled and recycling done this morning and I am off to look in on the renovation of Mom's and Dad's bathroom since I hired the contractor and I am in charge of the renos.... I guess that means I need to go have a shower and get dressed... and not sit around drinking tea... hmmm.... I had better hop to it then, eh?....

Have a good mid-August day where ever you are too.... 

Stay tuned I will have pics tomorrow of a 40 year old mobile home renovation... You've never seen such a horrible thing in your life... it should be called the mold wagon... who knew I would grow up one day to become a slum lord!

Holy Smack... I'm Back

We had an excellent time... through and through. A much needed break... a much needed time away, that's what this last week was. Too bad unpacking from camping trips sucks so badly. I still have a day of work to do to get the camper back to normal and nice and clean. But I'm not worrying about that right now because I'm here writing this.  So here are the pictures from a short vacation.....

We weren't at the campground half an hour before we all got wet... we all love swimming and the water was lovely though some said it was cold but it wasn't really...

Daughter #2 with a pooch on her boogie board.

Oops I forgot to remove my glasses and scarf.

Ahhh! That's better. Now I can really relax.

 Even the dogs got in on the action.....

Narmin after his first ever swim... I'm not sure he liked it!

And I know Jiggs had issues with the water.

Then while some of us were shivering...

Some of us decided to snooze....

Teapot passed out for a snooze through the screen of the tent trailer.

Yes that's a cat you see.... well we couldn't leave her home with no one to take care of her.... : (

Now that's one passed out pooch.

After a while we felt that maybe we should get some supper.... so we cooked up shish kabobs....

Om nom nom.... they were delicious....

And while they were cooking the Daughters got out their books and read by the water watching the suns rays lowering....

After eating we all decided to go for a paddle but Daughter #2 wanted to stay back and light a fire so while Teapot and I cleaned up Daughter #1 got into the kayak and headed across the lake for a short paddle...

After cleaning up Teapot and I boarded the canoe and off we went for a by-now moonlight paddle...

It was truly a lovely evening but as usual Teapot caught me in a goofy pose....

I wonder if anyone could ever take a nice picture of me.... (sigh)!

Daughter #1 obviously enjoyed her evening paddle...

Clearly it was getting too dark to see so we headed back to camp sadly....

I did manage to get this cool picture though on the way back....

Since lily pads were all over the place we thought we might find a frog or two and we did have a look....

But we never found one.... later one found us though... the last night we were there we had turned  the canoes over to keep the wooded cross beam from being chewed on by the local beavers, the next morning we discovered that a cool toad had found his way into the space under the bow gunnel.  He would have had quite the ride had we not seen him and loaded the canoes for the 25 kilometre ride home.... he would have surely had flapping lips in the 90 kilometre wind on the way home. But we found him in time and put him back in the reeds as you see in the picture above.

Meanwhile Daughter #1 was waiting with the fire going....

We had some hot chocolate... but with all that fresh air I think we were starting to get loopy....

That's my loopy look.

So we went to bed and listened to loons... and coyotes.... and the next morning we were visited by swans... ducks.... beavers.... and eagles.....

And caterpillars....

This was the view when we got up...

It was so beautiful we headed off for another paddle.... and we portaged around a beaver damn so that we could see these views...

That was just the first 24 hours... and so our week continued in like manner. It was truly an idyllic trip.

I think we're going again next week when Teapot and Daughter #1 get back from a white water rafting trip.  I can't wait!

Back For A Shower.... Then Gone Again

Tonight Teapot had his regular monthly meeting with the Senior Rangers. They are planning a big trip for next week but since Teapot is going to be down in Wells/Grey National park with JCRs he's not going on the big trip with the Senior Rangers.  He still had to be at their meeting since he is the great big brilliant guy who is their leader! Oopps you don't plan a big trip when you are not going to be there ... but he did... anyway he is at the meeting in town and the Daughters and I are here for a quick shower before we head back out to the park to continue our camping trip. We have been having a blast at the lake. We get up we jump in the canoe... a late breakfast or early lunch and we have been hitting the lake for some swimming.... we dry off and then we go swimming again.... we take out the kayak and then we might have a snack before swimming again.... maybe then we go looking for frogs... and then we might go for another quick swim before we get supper... after supper and dishes we are off down the lake in canoes and kayaks again... then back just as the sun is setting for hot chocolate by the fire and then we go to bed to sleep like the dead except for Narmin who has been discovering the law of gravity.... more about that later.... and then we get up the next day to start all over again. I'm sunburnt... and so are the girls... Teapot isn't, but being a red head, he's more careful about the blasting down sun rays.  Even the dogs have been getting in on the fun... Narmin won't go near the water except when he's on one of the girls boogie boards or in the canoe but that hasn't stopped us teaching him to swim! Bailey loves the boogie board (well that might be stretching it but she trusts Daughter #2 implicitly).  Today she dove off the boogie board and swam to shore.  Jiggs had been avoiding the water and only straying into it when her ball went in... needless to say her ball has been going in constantly and further and further each time we throw it.  At one point today Teapot and the Daughters and I were all in the water at the same time and Jiggs decided that ok she would finally go for a swim... she swam all the way out to us three times in a row.... like that is unheard of.  We are all really impressed that she even tried.

We've all been having a complete blast. With the lake right there by the side of us we can't have a better time.  And we even got the best campsite in the park... at least I think so. Nature at our front door.... it's wonderful... and somehow having the lake makes it better than in our own dear house.

We were all feeling a little on the grimy side after two days with no showers and a muddy pond as our only outlet for cleaning and so we came home tonight to all soak and clean and get clean underwear (an absolute necessity you understand on any camping trip) before heading back out to the park in a couple of hours.  We will stay out till Friday, I think, if all goes well.  We'll continue to splash and play for another couple of days before reality sets in and we have to come home again.  I'm taking pictures and lots of them so I'll be able to post them here when I get back.... that'll make you all drool... the quintessential Canadian summer vacation.... swimming at the lake.)

Alpacas, sheep, llama, and horse are all doing well despite the fact that there is no one here to keep an eye on them... but they are self contained pretty much for a few days... We are upping the level of water in their watering barrels and forking a little hay to keep them going while we are here, but they seem to be doing ok all the same just on the grass.

There's been a fiasco about hay again but I'll talk about that when I get back... the crisis is over thank God.  However, we really noticed tonight when we drove into the yard how badly we need a good dose of rain... once again mid summer has denied us of moisture and the grass is drying up.... this I'm sure is good for the farmers since they are all in their fields vigorously haying... sun at this time of year means hay... and that's good... but my garden is looking pathetic. It needs to be watered which is what I am off to do now before we head back out to the park.... to the lake.... to the water... to paddling.... to early morning swans and eagles and afternoon munching out before swimming, swimming, swimming.....

We'll see ya'll later after we've been water logged!