Mid November on the Meadow

 Some mid-November Meadow moments.  Welcome! 

Our dear Whiskey Jacks looking a little bedraggled today.  First real snowfall of the year. Hopefully the treats at the feeders warm them up a little.

Just before today's Whiskey Jack snow fall, David and I took a wander round the meadow and got some pics of our almost winter white world ~ that transition day when fall is almost a memory under the first brush strokes of winter.

  Looking up ~ way up.

   The days are short now.  Sunsets sneak up on us.

   Welcome to Winter on the meadow. It's a beautiful time of year!

Hummingbird Arrival

Our newest arrival.  Sunday afternoon; our first hummingbird of the season made his appearance. Very exciting.  By late May and into early September we enjoy well over a hundred hummingbirds at our feeders on a daily basis! It’s absolutely magical.

David is incredibly in tune with our wild birds ~ he observes, listens and communicates with them.  Somehow, he knew it was time! I was sure we wouldn’t see a hummer for a few weeks yet, but David insisted on hanging a feeder about 4 days ago and sure enough, on Sunday afternoon ~ our first hummer arrived!!

Here’s our Sunday arrival on the tree outside our kitchen door that we sometimes refer to as our Christmas Tree because it’s a bird magnet.  During these next few months it’s almost always completely decorated with hummingbirds and other wee birdlets.

For all you fellow bird lovers; May 9th is 'Global Big Day' under the wing (haha) of Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology.  Go birding wherever you are, for any length of time on May 9 and enter your lists in ebird. Here's a link to the Global Big Day 2015 site.   

Their primary goal is fundraising for their excellent work with birds, but May 9th is about finding as many species as possible for the Global Big Day tally and to have a worldwide show of support for the birds! I hope you enjoy your birds wherever you are and if you have some time on the ninth of May ~ please count and record any that you see.

The tail end of March on the Meadow

"Is it spring, is it morning?

Are there trees near you,
and does your own soul need comforting?
Quick, then––open the door and fly on your heavy feet; the song
may already be drifting away."

 By Mary Oliver from her Poem "Such Singing in the Wild Branches"

 

We are so enjoying this crazy beautiful wild time of year!  Warm spring days followed by overnight snowfalls that melt in the sun by noon.  Half of the walk around our meadow is stuck in winter, half is full-on spring and makes a glorious stroll. 

 

 

We've had some tremendous March winds the past few weeks so there are trees down here and there that must be dealt with. Some we leave where they lie to offer habitat for critters and to build the soil. Trees that have fallen across our trails will go to our mill yard to turn into floors or counter tops or bookshelves in the addition we're building.

 

The beavers in our beaver pond are up and about and busy.  The ducks and geese and blackbirds are back, the yellow legs and robins, and a small contingent of swallows have arrived.
Life is good and we are well and truly blessed! 

If you might enjoy more regular updates and there will be lots now that spring has sprung; you may want to follow us on Facebook. 
Thanks for dropping by!

Some September scenes

It's a good life.

Welcome to the Homestone. David and I (Nicola) live very remote in the Cariboo-Chicotin area of British Columbia. We live in a kind of surrealist paradise that a friend described as 'our solar powered idyll'. We live off the power grid and without telephone. We rely on satellite internet for all of our communications. David's handcrafted wood rings have connected us with folks all over the world - people we are proud to call friends and because of our remote lifestyle, we don't see our family as often as we would like. "The Homestone" seems a good way for us to stay in touch with friends and family.

We live a blessed and mostly uniteruppted life. It's just the two of us here and the things we do. Our nearest neighbour is 10 miles away down the old logging road that leads to town. Our nearest small town is an hour down that road.

Our life and our work is powered by the sun. We heat our home and our outbuildings with wood. We cook with wood and we work with wood. The wood we use in our home comes from the wind-fall and bug killed trees on our 50 acres.

The animals we caretake and those who wander wild through our lives are sometimes the only other creatures we see for months. Our sheep have names and distinct personalities; they give us the best fertilizer and create fire breaks around the property. And they give us their delightful lambs in the spring. The chickens (our baker's dozen of 13 hens) look after our kitchen scraps. They give us beautiful eggs in return. Our greenhouse and gardens produce a short but spectacular season of fresh organic vegetables.

We have each other and the work we do. We are blessed with wonderful families and friends. We thank God and all our angels. It's a good life.

Welcome to our world.