Happy Birthday Echo

Happy Birthday to you....

Happy Birthday to you.......

Happy Birthday dear Echo........

Happy Birthday to you!!!!

I know it was yesterday, so I'm a day late. Sorry 'bout that. I hope you had a great day. Love ya loads.

Drat...foiled again

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.

No more ranting now. Back to the fun.

Death to Spammers!!!

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!

Weeds or Flowers?

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.

The dog days of summer

Aren't these ears a hoot? Everyone that meets Xena gets quite a chuckle at those ears.Here's one taken on a hot day just recently. Art got tired of sharing his creamsicles with her, so now she gets her own. I can't believe that I was quick enough to catch that tongue!This is Duke. He is an Akida Saint Bernard cross and is the sweetest big bear you ever met. Xena was a bit afraid of him, only because of his size. Duke belongs to our neighbours Shannon, Russ & Lane.Have you ever seen that comic strip with the evil Yorkies? Well, don't you think this looks just like them?.....only looking from the outside in (of course our little angel is just perfect .... not evil at all .... HA!)And here is Xena playing with one of her favourite toys. It is really a child's toy, called a "Hippity-Hop", which the kid sits on, holds the big ring handle and bounces around. Xena loves it.

A day out

Yesterday we went on a fieldtrip with the Burns Lake rockhound club. It was a great day. Here is where we stopped for lunch.....the Cheslatta River rec site. Pretty impressive, although apparantly these are just the "itty-bitty" falls. The real ones are about a 15 minute hike away. We didn't go there. Maybe another time. Anyway, this is near the Kenney Dam about 100km south of here.

Happy abba-dabba-day...Oat

When my niece, Jodie, was little and learning to talk, that's how she would say Happy Birthday. Oat is Art. Too cute, I thought.

Anyhoo..... Happy Birthday, Art. Too bad you have to work today, but we'll take tomorrow off. We're going on a fieldtrip with the rockhound club and will be exploring some exciting new territory. It's a trip we've been anticipating for a long time.

PS....I think you look very handsome in your new hat....

The haul

Because all those rockhounds had to drive about 60 km to our place on Sunday, I drew a map and emailed it to each of them. Then Art made some fun signs and posted them along our road and driveway. Here are a couple ......


















He also got quite a haul from the auction. After all the bidding was over (it was a silent auction), there was a bunch of stuff still left. So, the prices were slashed drastically and Art just couldn't resist. All these grinders and motors, 3 buckets of rocks (some very nice stuff indeed) and some jewelry making hammers ...... all for something like $30.
Today has been a real monsoon-y day. Art is over at Tom's, helping him dismantle a log house and load it onto a truck. I wonder how that's going. Pretty soggy, I imagine.

Take a break

Today we are taking a much earned day off. We have been slogging it for a couple of weeks now, getting the place spiffed up for yesterday. The Burns Lake rockhound club came and had an auction and barbecue. There were about 20 people, lots of equipment to bid on, a big pile of rock to sift through and purchase, tons of food for noshing and lots of great fellowship. It really was a wonderful day, making all that hard work very much worth it.





So, Art and I promised ourselves that we would take today off, but you know, I think we have forgotten how to do that. It feels weird to be just sitting here and not have somewhere to go or something to do. I sure never had a problem with sloth in the past. I'm sure I could get the hang of it again, though, if I gave it some time.

The house looked so pretty before the guests arrived, I thought I'd best take advantage (because it may never look this good again) and make that video I've been promising my Mom. So I walked through with the camera and did a little filming. I want to get that completed and sent to her before my Dad comes for his visit at the beginning of August. He and my big brother, Rusty, are planning to drive up and spend a few days.

It's a little bit cool here today (about 8 C). I can't believe that I actually had to light the furnace this morning. It's the 10th of July and I'm stoking wood into a fire! Not that I'm complaining .... I'll take this any day over tropical heat. It's just weird, though.

Where to start?

How 'bout with something pretty. I found this in our garden. I believe it is a peony bush. There are 2, actually. I like the pink flower beside it. It adds a "pop" to the photo, I thought.Besides the myriad of wildflowers, I'm finding lots of planted blooms all around the place that I didn't know were there. I also don't know what most of them are. I've been taking pictures though, especially now that I've found the "tele-macro" feature on my handycam. Great for flowers and bugs.

Here's an Emperor Gum moth that we found in the windshield washer dispenser at the local gas station. It has a huge 6 inch wingspan! I did a google and found that it is native to Australia, so I sent an email to the Forest Ministry over there.Found this old bucket at the dump. Thought it would make a nice planter.Bought a second-hand washer and dryer. "Works great" the person told us. Well, not quite. The dryer runs, yes, but blows only cold air. Not too helpful when you are actually trying to dry the clothes. So, before getting into a hassle with the neighbour we bought it from, we went to the dump looking for parts. Wouldn't you know .... sitting right there was the exact same dryer. We took it home, stripped the needed thingamajigs and voila, the dryer now works. I'm very happy! Now we don't have to pack 14 loads of clothes off to the laundromat once a month.Got my red car back from Tom last week. We had it and Betsy Ford shipped up here from Burnaby last September. Tom spent the winter tinkering with it and using it as an extra vehicle. I felt a little bad taking it from him because he has kind of fallen in love with it, but it's nice to have my own wheels. It's also good, I think, to not be stranded, in case of emergency. It's a few kilometres to the nearest helping hand.My new friend, Lane (he's almost 13), has just graduated from Grade 7. He invited me to his school play, in which he played the lead role of Hamlet. That was a big deal to me and I was thrilled. I video taped the whole thing, so will pick out the best pictures and post them here real soon. He also invited me to his final baseball game in Vanderhoof. He is quite an athlete, so was disappointed when his team lost. He played well, though, and I'll post those pics too. On that same day, our grand-niece Jamie (she's 8 1/2) also played a game of baseball. For a bunch of little gaffers (some were really little), they played quite well .... and with heart! It was fun to watch them.


The Endako Community Hall had it's annual Yard Sale on Sunday. Art and I donated a bunch of stuff that we found in our sheds, and I also came home with some treasures.











I did find this set of ruby glass which I think I'll try to sell on ebay. I think it might be worth a little more than what I'd have gotten at the Yard Sale.These figurines were donated by someone. Are they Hummels? I kind of like this picture. I just put them on the BBQ to take the shot and happened to capture a hummingbird, too.If you check out Art's blog http://home-on-the-hill.blogspot.com , you will see the work he's been doing on our veranda. Here's a pic of him about to get his hands dirty (but playing with the equipment first).

One year on the Dole

I just realized ..... yesterday was the one year anniversary of my last day at BC Housing. Boy, did that go fast! I guess I am now officially a bum.

We just had a dilly of a thunderstorm here. As for that wish I made earlier today for some rain ..... it came true. But only a little bit.

Smoke on the Water

Finally, a reprieve from the cooking heat. It's been about a skajillion degrees here for almost a week, but today it's starting to cool off ..... (thank you God). We've gotten up at 5:00am the last 2 days so we can work outside before it warms up. With company coming on Sunday, Art and his brother Tom have been spiffin' up the veranda (pictures to follow).

There's a forest fire burning somewhere nearby, leaving a haze in the sky (kinda reminds me of Vancouver), which is getting thicker as the day goes on, and that sickly smell of smoke. I don't like that smell. A forest fire almost got our house when I was a kid and it scared me quite a bit, so that smell brings back an anxious feeling. I very much doubt that we are in any danger here, because all the trees are around the perimeter of the property, very far from the house. It's been very, very dry here. We really need some rain.

Who can catch the wind?

Well, Xena is trying to. I particularly like how she runs full out without being able to see where she's going!

The buzz is back

The hummingbirds are back. And they brought their appetites with them. When they all disappeared back in May, I thought it was because my feeders were empty for too long, but was told that, no, they'd just gone to nest. I have 6 feeders out around the house and yard, and I'm needing to refill them all every day and a half. I actually ran out of sugar and had to go to town to buy a 10lb bag. The other feeders (with seed) are getting gobbled up pretty quickly, too. I still have a lot of cowbirds, redwinged blackbirds (which both have sweet voices that I can now recognize) and sparrows coming around. I even had a couple of visits from this guy .... a purple finch.

.... oops .... I have a picture somewhere. Just can't find it right now. Here's a cowbird instead ....Still on the subject of hummingbirds, there was one trapped in Art's workshop the other day. It didn't look like he was going to find his way out again and was getting pretty tired buzzing and chirping against the window. I was amazed that he allowed Art to clasp his hands around him and carry him outside. I'll bet he had a tale to tell around the sugar-water cooler later.

We also have many, many, many swallows and swifts with nests in the open roofed buildings. One keeps trying to build a nest on the side of our house, just under the roof peak and we keep knocking it down (with a VERY long stick). Every time we do that (which is almost every day .... you'd think they'd get the hint) there is a great hullaballoo as the whole flock bands together to fly around giving us "what for".

I finally retrieved, from the nursery, those hanging baskets I made back in April.She was keeping them safe in the greenhouse until all danger of frost had passed .... which, by the way it isn't quite yet. Some of our neighbours have lost their gardens because 2 nights ago it froze. Because of our location at this higher elevation and on a south facing slope, it is warmer on cold days and cooler on hot days. In winter we are 9C warmer than our neighbours and on days like yesterday, when it was 34C in the valley, we were 6C cooler. Yup, freezing by night, blistering by day. No wonder the gardens are having a hard time. I guess what they lack in heat is compensated by more daylight hours. Right now we are getting only about 3 1/2 hours of total darkness each night. The sky is still glowing at midnight and bright again by 3:30am.. Makes it hard to come in for supper, so often we don't and are still in the garden or out playing with the dog at 10:00pm.

Because we have fenced the house and yard area off from the cows this year, the grass is getting quite high within "the compound". Over by the barns it is particularly tall.I think this must be some kind of hay because it's different than the rest of the yard. It is quite a beautiful sight to watch when a breeze is blowing .... like an ocean of green with waves rippling through.

And how's this for living the dream? The ultimate electronic cottage!

cute doggie

The novelty of this puppy still hasn't worn off for me, so I guess you may have to put up with lots of pictures of her for a little while.




8 weeks old





11 1/2 weeks







And here she is mugging Art for his creamsicle. Does he look impressed, or what? Xena LOVES creamsicles (shhh... don't tell the vet).

Xena's growing like mad

Look at these two cutie pies. Everyday Xena looks bigger and bigger. We took her for her first vet visit last week and the best guess is that she's Golden Retriever crossed with Husky. The vet said that her ears would start standing up and sure enough, they are. One more than the other so far, so she looks kind of like Nigel in Farscape (I just hope she doesn't develop Nigel's other characteristics .... for those unfamiliar, he could pass gas that would knock you out).

I haven't forgotten

I've just been too busy to update my blog. I promise to real soon, though.

Today was a very good day

All in all, some nice things happened today. Art found a contraption in the barn (I call it that only because I have no clue what it is) that I think will make a nice planter.I put some plants in this old wheelbarrow we found out in a field.The fields of dandelions have turned to puff-thingies.I found a 4-leaf clover, and I wasn't even looking for one.Found a ladybug in the garden. With all these good luck omens, I thought I should check last night's lottery ticket ..... won $5.00.

Walter & Audrey, their daughter Shannon and son-in-law Russell, came up to collect some of their cows. Now, I know this is nothing new to those cow-pokes, but it is very exciting to us recently defected city slickers. I was all prepared to make a little movie .... had video camera in hand .... and then got busy talking and missed almost all of it. Audrey stayed behind with Art and I, while the other 3 got on their horses and went looking for the particular cows they were after. Next thing I know there was a lot of yelling in the distance and then the small herd came a running, cowboys in hot pursuit! By the time I got to a spot where I could get pictures, all there was to see was everybody's rear-ends as they headed into the trees at the bottom of the hill and out of sight. Dang, dang, dang, DANG!!!

Anyways, here's the best of what I was able to get. Audrey promises that there will be more opportunities. I hope so. It's not like I've never been around cows, or horses before, but this was right in our front yard!



Shannon bringing up the left side .....



Russell bringing up the right .....
Walter going down the centre .....and Audrey heading to meet them at the end of the road.Oh ya. And to top the day off, I got an invitation from Lane (Shannon and Russ's son) to come to see him perform in a school play tomorrow. It is either Hamlet or MacBeth (I can't remember) and he has the lead role. I told him I'll bring my video camera. He is graduating from Grade 7 to High School. I remember that transition. Seems like forever ago ..... seems like yesterday. Anyways, I'm honoured, Lane. Thanks for the invite.

Dadd-burned cows

Now I'm even talking like a farmer. Sheesh. But, really, they are dumb beasts. I think Moo-dini has been teaching the kids some tricks (Moo-dini is the name Art gave one of the cows last year, that could pirouette her way around the cattle guards to get into where she shouldn't be). Over the last couple of days there have been two calves getting through the fence. Or maybe it's the same one both times. I just don't know. What I DO know is, there'll be hell to pay if that new garden gets trampled.

And you've heard of "fraidy-cats"? Well, they're nothing compared to "fraidy-cows", I'm telling ya. When I went out to shoo that calf back through the fence I caused a veritable stampede. My God! Take a pill, you stupid cows.

Even so, they do provide some nice photo ops.