I'm a country kid (and Navy brat) who grew up near Victoria, BC, Canada. I moved to Vancouver for just a few months and ended up staying for 30 years. Have always dreamt of the "electronic cottage", so in 2005 we took early retirement, bought a ranch in Central BC and left that big city behind.
You've heard Art and I talk about the painting we've been doing on our house up here in Endako. Well, I finally sorted through the plethora of pictures I took of the work in progress.
Art and his brother Tom are perusing the job at hand.Tom and sister Echo get comfy so they can supervise the project.Waddya mean I missed a spot?These are through the upstairs window.
Here are the before and afters .... from various angles around the house.
Art and Tom admiring their handiwork. I love the big sky.
The sun finally came out, so I went outside to take some pictures. It's not too cold (around 10 or so), but the wind is blowing, so I put on a hat and jacket. Well, Art thought I looked pretty funny and just HAD to take this picture. I can see, I guess, how I might look a little conflicted about exactly what to wear. Give a girl a break. Sheesh!
Here is where I'll be working for the next 5 weeks or so. The Fraser Lake dump.I gotta say, it's not the most stimulating job I've ever had, but it's kind of fun ... in a weird way. Art says I'm a girl after his own heart because I'm willing to look for treasures there and bring them home. It's amazing what people throw away, and it's not always broken or yuckky. Like old windows .... perfect for that greenhouse we are building. And a couple of screen doors. We need those, but yikes, they are expensive. These are FREE! And 2 of those lazy-susan corner kitchen cabinet thingies ... so you can get at the stuff in the far back of the cupboard. And they're perfectly good. Not bent or dinged or worn out ... like new. Go buy those at IKEA!
So there are some perks to an otherwise excruciatingly boring job. Yesterday was a little tough because the ground was muddy after a couple of days of hard rain. I wrenched my knee from continually sinking ankle deep in sucking clay. Not so much fun. The best part is coming home at night and Art has supper on and the fire on and the house is warm and cozy and smells wonderful. Life is good!
Today was a nice relaxing one. It rained off and on, while we puttered around home. Art was trying out the new weed-wacker (check out his blog) and is also getting the Boler ready to roll. We are heading out tomorrow for a few days of camping. We're meeting some fellow rockhounds at Binta Lake, which is not very far from here. Definitely looking forward to some "Boler time". Here's some evidence of how long it's been ..... this is a roll of toilet paper in the Boler. Looks like a little mousie has been having some fun.
Art's brother runs the local dump and he has asked me to help him for the next couple of months while the government turns it into a transfer station. I think it'll be fun. He's going to teach me to run all the heavy equipment...mashers and excavators and the like. Wahooo! Can't you just see me? Who'da thunk. All these years as a computer geekoid Systems Analyst and now I'm workin' at the dump. I guess I can give myself some clever title, like Sanitary Engineer or Landfill Technician. The money'll come in handy and like Sara always says "you can do anything for 2 months".
Lately, I've been talking a lot about our new dog Xena. But there are a couple of other kritters that live here, too. They don't do as many exciting things as Xena, so don't get as much press, but they're my true loves. They are brother and sister kitty-kats, named Blackie (the boy) and Chickie (the girl). If you don't know their story, they were feral kittens on a farm in Abbotsford about 6 years ago. I'm pretty sure I wasn't thinking straight at the time, but we trapped them and brought them to our home in Burnaby. I proceeded to tame them. It's a long story, with lots of ups and downs (and the dispensing of a box or 2 of band-aids on Art, who seemed to keep getting his hands and arms in the way), but they eventually became pretty nice housecats. I love them to bits.Of course, right after I took that picture, they had to pretend that, no, they weren't being cuddly with each other.
On Friday night our neighbours Audrey & Walter paid us a visit. And they came bearing gifts.
Some sweet peas from the garden (which smell like perfume)......
....a scrum-delly-icious pie.....
....and this.....It is a major weed whacker, of industrial proportions. It's as big as a lawn mower and works like a hot damn (Audrey has one just like it, which we borrowed once). After Art does a little assembly work, he'll post a pic of it on his blog. This was their way of saying "thank you" to us for working so hard to make the Community Hall ready for their party last weekend. We are feeling a little overwhelmed. It is so extraordinarily generous of them. They've already thanked us many times in many ways....I just don't know what to say....except thank you right back!
August was a very busy month. Some ups, some downs, but certainly not boring. It started off with somewhat of a crash and burn as the visit with my Dad took a nose-dive. No details required, but some fence mending definitely is.
The only place to go from there was up. Art's kids Sara (with husband Kevin and dog Brutis) and Treena came up and spent a week with us. At the same time, Art's sister Echo (with husband Grant and dog Buddy) drove up from Kamloops in their newly acquired truck and camper. With Art's brother Tom living just down the road and their sister Cheryl in Vanderhoof (1/2 hour drive away) and all their respective children, etc, we had quite the gathering every night for that week. It was a super good time that flew by way too fast. There was a lot of trail riding on ATVs and a lot of fishing. We even fired up the home-made smoker that a friend recently gave us and smoked a bunch of those fresh trout. Y-U-M !!!We ate well, laughed a lot and got to hang out with people that love us. What more could we ever have asked for? I think that's how it's supposed to be. I'm sorry that Sara hurt her back (while giving the intrepid Xena a bath) .... ouch! While Art and I weren't home, the kids took Xena for a walk to the pond behind our house. The water's a little low and there's a lot of black mud. This picture pretty much says it all.Well, the kids were afraid that we'd be mad, so immediately gave her a bath. The best picture is on Art's blog, where Sara and Kevin are hosing her down. I like this pic because I'm not sure if Brutis is jealous or saying "give her a break ... girls just wanna have fun!"When we got home, the first thing we noticed was how nice our puppy smelled. Then we found Sara flat out on the living room floor in excruciating agony. They gave her some good drugs at the local medical clinic and after a few days rest was up and about.
We spent the next week finishing the painting of the top half of our house. I took tons of pictures, but have yet to sort them all out and choose the best ones to showcase how gorgeous the place turned out. It's really, really beautiful.
Then we had to turn our focus to the Endako Community Hall. The event of the year (and maybe the decade for this little town) was fast approaching and there was a lot of work to do. It was quite dissappointing how little help we were able to muster, but I guess that's how it goes with these kind of projects. It was basically Art, me and Audrey (hostess of the upcoming party) that scrubbed, scraped, scoured and painted for 6 days. It was more work than I ever would have imagined, but dang it looks good! Again, I took a ton of pictures and will post them when I've sorted them. Here are a couple of the party, though. The tents were rented, as well as the massive mobile barbecue.
There was tons of food, tons of people, tons of laughter, great music and just generally a wonderful time was had by all. There was even a fun ceremony of Walter and Audrey renewing their vows, with Sherman (aka "Doc") officiating (that's Walter on the right and Doc on the left).Our friends, Mike & Carol (and their dog Moosh) and Bennett drove up from Burnaby to attend the party and visit for a few days. They all also did some ATV trail riding. I think it was Bennett's first time on one of those. I hope you enjoyed yourself, guy.
Yesterday, we had a surprise visit from our new friends Ernie and Bev. They live in Burns Lake and are fellow rockhounds. They stopped in to invite us for a few days of camping and exploration for opals at a spot not too far away. This area is well known for it's agates, jasper and opal. I think we have earned some R & R and accepted the offer with enthusiasm. Funny ... before we retired we were out in our Boler every single weekend, summer and winter. Now, we don't have time. Somehow that seems backwards.
Art is taking a much deserved lemonade break after working hard at getting the roof of our house ready to paint.And here is an artsy-fartsy picture of him up on the roof pressure washing as dusk is approaching.
I couldn't resist taking a picture of this sign. It was made by our nephew Conrad's son, Cody (what would that make him? .... our grand-nephew?). I don't know why he's selling his rats, but when asked why the price isn't just $40.00 he replied "that's how they do it on T.V."
Xena is cutting new teeth and the vet suggested giving her a frozen carrot to chew on. It helps soothe her sore gums. I tried it and she absolutely loves it. Can't you tell by her great big smile?!
It's just go, go, go, go, go. With all this work you'd think I'd be slimming down....but NO! Guess I gotta keep at it. Maybe after the long weekend we can take a break. The current project is finishing the painting, etc at the local community hall. Today is day #5 of putting in 12-14 hours to get the place ship shape and looking nice. Walter and Audrey are having their 50th wedding anniversary party there on Sunday and are expecting 400 guests.
I'm sorry that there's been nothing new to read here for the past 3 weeks, but I just haven't had any spare time. Much to tell you about, though, so do keep checking back. In a few days I'll tell you all about it and have some pictures posted. Here's a teaser. Art is taking 5 and showing Xena what she is supposed to do with that big stick. She looks very attentive, don't ya think?
I think that poor little Xena is getting stir crazy. She's been cooped up or tied down for over a week now (with a few more days to go) and she's just not used to it. While Art was painting at our Burnaby house, she was tied to the truck. I guess she got bored and this is what we found....So, while I cleaned up the mess, I moved her to the front yard. "Yay", she said. "Finally somewhere I can put my superior digging skills to use!"She also chewed some of the hydrangea flowers .... sorry Carol. It's something I've noticed she likes to do at home, too. Biting the heads off flowers. I guess it's better than the heads of small animals .... or children.
Art and Kevin attempt to introduce their dogs to each other. Brutis is an elderly girl and not at all sure how to take this tasmanian devil we've brought into her yard. In another week Brutis will be visiting us in Endako, so they can get to know each other even better.
Well, actually, it's Art that's doing the painting. I'm just kind of watching and taking pictures. Of course, I help where I can, but the hard part is all being done by Art. This is going to be a month of painting. We're doing our house, the Endako Hall (in preparation for a big party there on the Labour Day weekend), 2 different parts of the hotel in town. And mixed in there will be 2 trips to the coast and 4 batches of arriving visitors. And that's just the month of August. Phew!
Here are some "in progress" shots of the house so far. 2 sides done, 2 to go plus the roof. All the dark brown is becoming "biscotti" and the yellow roof will be hunter green.And what a job juggling those ladders around! We also had to put all that plastic up to protect the logs that we finished last summer.
We are wondering about those steeper roof panels on the side.....should we paint them biscotti or hunter green?
I also love Art in his orange panti-hose hat.....oops sorry....dew-rag. The painting had to be put on hold, though, because we are leaving in the morning to go to Vancouver and Victoria. We are picking up my Dad and bringing him up here for a visit, so thought we might as well get some painting done (oops, look at that .... more painting) on our Burnaby house. We were hoping to have this place done before my Dad got here, but we just ran out of time. Besides, it's pouring buckets out there right now.
This drowned rat doesn't seem to recognize her own shadow. And here she is enjoying a cool breeze while she takes a little nap.It seems that every day Xena is bigger than the day before. She doesn't look like much of a puppy anymore, but is sure turning into a beautiful girl.Here, she and Art are playing a game of tongue tag .... it looks like Art lost that round!
Last year in August we took the trip of a lifetime. We went to the Yukon with a bunch of fellow rockhounds and spent about 3 weeks exploring new lands. It was a wonderful time and we had the good fortune of hanging out with a great group of people. Our "wagonmaster" was Win (aka the Jade Queen) and we thank her greatly for the fantastic adventure. She sent us these t-shirts just the other day. What a nice surprise. Thanks Win!
Poor Xena. She seems to hate the heat as much as I do. One thing she sure does love is water, though. I can pour the hose right on her and she almost sighs. I've noticed that her toes are webbed, which I believe is a Husky trait (or maybe all dogs have that....I really don't know).
I miss very few things about the city, but one thing I do miss are Starbucks Frappuccinos. So, I picked up an electric ice crusher for $1.00 at a garage sale, found a recipe on the internet and today made truly fabulous Frappuccinos. They were super delicious and sure as hell didn't cost $7.00 each to make.
Art is taking advantage of the warmer weather and getting ready to paint the top half and roof of our house. Today he pressure washed.When he was done, he wrote this valentine on the side of the old shed.....He's so sweet!
I guess I'm just slow on the uptake, but I found out how to stop the spammers on my blog. Or maybe I'm just naive. I've been doing this blog all this time and thinking "how nice....it's fun, it's free, there's no advertising, no one bothers me....no 'catches' ". Then the jerks of the world find a way to exploit it, like they exploit everything else that they possibly can, just for exploiting's sake. Is it any danged wonder that people get cynical?
So, I started thinking about it and noticed that other peoples' blogs have this thing called "word verification" when I go to leave comments. Now I understand what that's for. Spammers can't get past it with their automated little programs. So, I just turned that little feature on and let's hope that's the end of it. Until, of course, the fargin iceholes find a way around.
Or worse! My blog has been hit by a spammer a couple of times now but last night was the worst. Everytime someone makes a comment to one of my entries I receive an email. This morning I woke up to 236 emails! They're all drivellous (if that's even a word) crap and I resent it big time. Now not only do I have to clear out all those emails from my mailbox, but I also have to go into each and every entry on my blog and delete those comments.
What I want to know is....why? What is the point of it all? What does this idiot gain? All I want to do is share some stories with my family and friends. I'm not bothering anyone. It's an invasion and I resent it (did I mention that?). Get lost....you loser!
I am learning things. Not only has my interest in birds been sparked, but so has an interest in photographing flowers. There are lots and lots of wildflowers growing in the fields here and they are just so darned pretty. My favourite flower is the daisy and there are acres and acres of them all around me.Now I've learned that these particular daisies are a noxious weed called Ox-eyes and the farmers hate them because the cows won't graze where they are growing. I guess that's why the cows haven't been hanging around too much this year. There's also a very pretty orange flower and some yellow ones called Hawkweed, which are also a big problem, apparantly. Shows what I know. To me they're pretty and worthy of picture taking.
The other thing that I've learned is that this plant, which I always thought was Chamomile, is called Pineapple Weed and is not Chamomile at all. Honest, I looked it up.This is Chamomile. Looks a whole lot like the Ox-eye Daisies above, doesn't it? These are also growing here, so it's a little confusing.Oh well, no matter. I'm not farming, so what do I care? I'm more interested in the beauty of it all and believe me, there's plenty of that.
Tom and sister Echo get comfy so they can supervise the project.
Waddya mean I missed a spot?
These are through the upstairs window.
I love the big sky.
The sun finally came out, so I went outside to take some pictures. It's not too cold (around 10 or so), but the wind is blowing, so I put on a hat and jacket. Well, Art thought I looked pretty funny and just HAD to take this picture. I can see, I guess, how I might look a little conflicted about exactly what to wear. Give a girl a break. Sheesh!
I gotta say, it's not the most stimulating job I've ever had, but it's kind of fun ... in a weird way. Art says I'm a girl after his own heart because I'm willing to look for treasures there and bring them home. It's amazing what people throw away, and it's not always broken or yuckky. Like old windows .... perfect for that greenhouse we are building. And a couple of screen doors. We need those, but yikes, they are expensive. These are FREE! And 2 of those lazy-susan corner kitchen cabinet thingies ... so you can get at the stuff in the far back of the cupboard. And they're perfectly good. Not bent or dinged or worn out ... like new. Go buy those at IKEA!
Of course, right after I took that picture, they had to pretend that, no, they weren't being cuddly with each other.
It is a major weed whacker, of industrial proportions. It's as big as a lawn mower and works like a hot damn (Audrey has one just like it, which we borrowed once). After Art does a little assembly work, he'll post a pic of it on his blog. This was their way of saying "thank you" to us for working so hard to make the Community Hall ready for their party last weekend. We are feeling a little overwhelmed. It is so extraordinarily generous of them. They've already thanked us many times in many ways....I just don't know what to say....except thank you right back!
We ate well, laughed a lot and got to hang out with people that love us. What more could we ever have asked for? I think that's how it's supposed to be. I'm sorry that Sara hurt her back (while giving the intrepid Xena a bath) .... ouch! While Art and I weren't home, the kids took Xena for a walk to the pond behind our house. The water's a little low and there's a lot of black mud. This picture pretty much says it all.
Well, the kids were afraid that we'd be mad, so immediately gave her a bath. The best picture is on Art's blog, where Sara and Kevin are hosing her down. I like this pic because I'm not sure if Brutis is jealous or saying "give her a break ... girls just wanna have fun!"
When we got home, the first thing we noticed was how nice our puppy smelled. Then we found Sara flat out on the living room floor in excruciating agony. They gave her some good drugs at the local medical clinic and after a few days rest was up and about.
Our friends, Mike & Carol (and their dog Moosh) and Bennett drove up from Burnaby to attend the party and visit for a few days. They all also did some ATV trail riding. I think it was Bennett's first time on one of those. I hope you enjoyed yourself, guy.
And here is an artsy-fartsy picture of him up on the roof pressure washing as dusk is approaching.
So, while I cleaned up the mess, I moved her to the front yard. "Yay", she said. "Finally somewhere I can put my superior digging skills to use!"
She also chewed some of the hydrangea flowers .... sorry Carol. It's something I've noticed she likes to do at home, too. Biting the heads off flowers. I guess it's better than the heads of small animals .... or children.
And what a job juggling those ladders around! We also had to put all that plastic up to protect the logs that we finished last summer.
The painting had to be put on hold, though, because we are leaving in the morning to go to Vancouver and Victoria. We are picking up my Dad and bringing him up here for a visit, so thought we might as well get some painting done (oops, look at that .... more painting) on our Burnaby house. We were hoping to have this place done before my Dad got here, but we just ran out of time. Besides, it's pouring buckets out there right now.
This drowned rat doesn't seem to recognize her own shadow. And here she is enjoying a cool breeze while she takes a little nap.
It seems that every day Xena is bigger than the day before. She doesn't look like much of a puppy anymore, but is sure turning into a beautiful girl.
Here, she and Art are playing a game of tongue tag .... it looks like Art lost that round!
Poor Xena. She seems to hate the heat as much as I do. One thing she sure does love is water, though. I can pour the hose right on her and she almost sighs. I've noticed that her toes are webbed, which I believe is a Husky trait (or maybe all dogs have that....I really don't know).
When he was done, he wrote this valentine on the side of the old shed.....
He's so sweet!
Now I've learned that these particular daisies are a noxious weed called Ox-eyes and the farmers hate them because the cows won't graze where they are growing. I guess that's why the cows haven't been hanging around too much this year. There's also a very pretty orange flower and some yellow ones called Hawkweed, which are also a big problem, apparantly. Shows what I know. To me they're pretty and worthy of picture taking.
This is Chamomile. Looks a whole lot like the Ox-eye Daisies above, doesn't it? These are also growing here, so it's a little confusing.
Oh well, no matter. I'm not farming, so what do I care? I'm more interested in the beauty of it all and believe me, there's plenty of that.
