Spring on the meadow

Some spring scenes... Moose on the meadow at sunrise, eyeing the hay in the hayshed. Our sunset on April 4th ... that kind of thing. out walking April 4th

Trumpeting spring

Just before sundown today, we had the magical pleasure of a visit by eight Trumpeter Swans. Without a telephoto lens we didn't get a good close up shot but here they are, just after they touched down on our flooded meadow.The Trumpeter Swan ~ a link to Environment Canada's Hinterland Who's Who ~ there is a great vintage clip on the trumpeter swan on their site. The photo here is from the website Venture North. We invited them to stay of course but after just about 20 minutes, they lit into the air and headed south west across the meadow.

Blue birds

Todays arrivals on the meadow; bluebirds, a redtailed hawk, robins, a couple of Canada Geese ... and a wicked spring storm. A flash of lightening and a great clap of thunder at about 4 oclock this afternoon was our cue to shut the power down. We don't take any chances with our power system. Our inverter caught fire one day a few years ago during a lightening storm. It was an expensive repair. With the power down and my laptop off, what to do? Reassure the dogs that the sky won't fall in, stoke up the wood stove, get dinner happening and bake a batch of cookies! I love my wood cook stove. There are challenges to living off the grid - cooking is not one of them. Okay, while I'm on the topic of cooking, I'd like to plug the world's finest kitchen knife... hand forged by Scott Richardson. He and Aki Yamamoto are the couple you'll meet at Cariboo Blades. If you need a good knife (or carving tools) this is where to find what you want. Check out Aki's artwork too. She creates the most amazing greeting cards and woodcarvings. It's Daylight Saving tomorrow and April Fools day too. Just a few weeks now till the hummingbirds return.

An otter morning

It wasn't an especially bright morning so I almost didn't bother taking the camera along on my walk and I am so glad I did. As I came up to the creek I spotted an otter at the edge of the ice. The otter didn't seem to notice or perhaps didn't mind my being there. We spent a just few minutes together before he slid off into the water and under the ice.

Spring storms and the world comes alive

From a letter to a friend in Upstate New York ... I think about your newly seeded hot pepper plants as I look out on our swiftly disappearing winter wonderland. Every glance out the window, the scene is changed. Grass and ground and great pools of water replacing what was two feet of snow just days ago. My morning walks are no longer accompanied by the crunching of snow underfoot, instead I come back with my boots muddied up to the ankles :) This is such an exciting time of year. We look forward to the sandhill cranes returning, the deer come back from grazing at lower elevations - there are a couple of does (that we are aware of) who come back every year to tend their fawns among the willows at the edge of the meadow. As soon as the snow on the meadow turns to a shallow lake of water, birds and ducks and waterfowl of every description return! The place just comes alive. We lose our winter refridgerator now too. During winter we put our fridge on the porch and unplug it. The great outdoors makes for a great walk in cooler... It saves a tremendous amount of power! But I see that I will have to look after that in the next day or so... no more free fridge. We do have a great cold room in the basement mind you... all year it is cool enough to keep vegetables and butter and cheese fresh. It won't be long before the swallows return. They like to build their nests all over our house so we have to curtail that a little or our house ends up looking like one large swallows nest by the end of summer... We do encourage them because they are the very best defense against mosquito's and they are beautiful! But I'm getting ahead of myself... a little blast of warm air and some ground appearing has me fast forwarded to summer days... Life is good. Our little Bella is getting big and strong! Growing so fast - she is already nibbling on hay and she's a very friendly, trusting little lamb. Just a sweetie... Today has a been a wild day weather wise ~ spring has firmly planted itself around the meadow. The creek has appeared, the trees are green again and we had a wicked hail storm this afternoon combined with some good cracks of thunder and flashes of lightening. This is our front porch littered with hail stones today.

Still winter in this neck of the woods

A couple of pics from our latest trip to town... It's still winter in this neck of the woods. Our resident moose posed for us on our way up the hill - her young'un was not so keen to be photographed and took off to hide in the bushes. Our good news ~ 'The Mrs' gave birth to a healthy ewe lamb on March 9th. We've named her 'Bella' since she was born on Isabella's birthday. Here she is just 15 minutes old with her 'very good' Mom. The Mrs is a natural; patient and calm. This next pic is Bella at about 30 hours... we moved the two of them into a makeshift shelter in the shop where they'll stay for a week or two till it warms up a bit outside. The shop has a wood heater and a big bright window ... life is good.

Harbingers of spring...

Two blackbirds were perched on their feeder this afternoon. The feeder outside our kitchen window that hundreds of blackbirds frequent in the summer months. It was full of snow today but as soon as we spotted them David went out, cleaned the snow from the feeder and replaced it with their favourite seeds. They'll be back. We sometimes call our blackbirds 'backbirds' as one of their favourite hang outs is on the backs of our sheep. So, spring is officially springing... the blackbirds have returned.

Pussy willows ...

The stone that marks where home is ... We are at the headwaters of a beautiful creek that runs the length of the property edged all the way by willow bushes which are regularly lunched on by our local moose. In the spring there are always a few newborn fawns being tenderly cared for among the willows. Coyotes wander through, and in the fall we watch young bucks rub the velvet off their antlers in amongst the willows. The pussy willows are out now. It's the first week of March and every day is photo worthy.

twenty two below

On our trip into town the other day, we see the shops are setting out their racks of seed packets and spring planting supplies and, the catalogues are arriving in the mail. Stokes seeds, Richters Herbs and the Lee Valley Garden catalogue... It will be a few months yet before we can think about popping our seeds in the soil. She's a frozen world on this high plateau! This past week was looking rather promising ~ like the beginning of the end of winter but not so... The willows bushes at the creeks edge had begun to show their soft grey buds and tiny blades of green grass were appearing at the edge of the shop and next to the house where the sun beats down... But it's gone cold again and we've had more snow. We've been keeping the wood stoves and the furnace cranked. This morning the thermometer read 22 below and it's supposed to get colder tomorrow. David was up on the roof of the house yesterday to clean out the furnace chimney while I cleaned out the wood stove in the kitchen. The colder it is, the more wood we burn, the more upkeep required tending chimney's and the accumulation of ash in stoves. We have a big old Enterprise Savoy in the kitchen - she's the heart of the house to be sure. In the out of doors, the sheep are content - they have their shelters and their summer hay and their warm winter wool coats. The girls; Missy and Mrs' are the two BIG ewes on either side of 'Sunshine'. We expect a lamb or two any day now. We'll post some pics of the big event of course and the days and weeks following... And so it goes ~ we work to stay warm and dream of spring while enjoying every incredible moment of this winter wonderland. The skies are spectacular! The moose wander in and out of the meadow, the coyotes too... leaving tracks that tell stories of their nocturnal wanderings. Life is good. We build our wood rings and get to know more wonderful people from all over the planet! There are wooden rings winding their way right now to Germany, Australia, Denmark, the UK, Illinois, Colorado, New Jersey, Texas, Kansas, Virginia and Florida. It's 7:30am and the forest of trees surrounding the meadow cast their morning shadows sharply against the frozen ground. Truly spectacular. It promises to be a bright sunny day! Shine on and power up!!

yodi visit

A couple of quick pics of our resident coyote and his latest visit ~ January 31st.

The first week of the new year

Windy today and cold!! Hurricane force winds were predicted just northwest of us on Haida Gwaii ( The Queen Charlotte Islands). We are tucked in safe and warm and happily at work with the wood furnace cranked. Constantly stuffing more wood in the kitchen stove too, keeping the kettle on the whistle. The animals have all been tended to, David generally feeds the sheep and the fires while I tend to the chickens and water the critters.

Our two dear dogs love to accompany us on our rounds. Jenny the collie is especially fascinated - she loves the sheep of course and feels that all the animals are her personal responsibility. Kali, the little one, always comes with me when I'm looking after the chickens. She and one of the hens had a good visit today when the hen slipped past me and got loose in the greenhouse. David is finishing rings today for shipping on Friday. Shipping means a trip into town - it's a perilous journey on icy logging roads and one we make only a few times a month during the winter months. It also means getting supplies in for the next few weeks and once we get this close to 'town day' we are getting awfully low on things like fresh produce and milk. It's biscuits and beans for lunch today :)

Arriving safely home from town is always the best part of the trip. It's a full days journey. Preparation for the trip is intense too. We pack extra winter clothes, blankets, tools, anything we might need in the event of a breakdown on that long, cold, seldom travelled road.

But, another day at home before our town trip. Another quiet day on the meadow coming up.

January 1st, 2006

We are the only two human beings for miles around. It should have been a quiet new year's day on the meadow but instead we had a steady stream of welcome visitors. Here we are on this new years day and there arrives on the meadow not one, but two moose !! 'Our' two moose... A very welcome sight!! About 2 months ago, a cowboy friend from down the way had told us that a hunter had shot a moose about 3 miles from our place. We were sure it was one of our 'resident' moose because since then we had seen only one of them. Then, there they were this morning - the two of them, looking healthy, and happlily munching on willow bushes at the edge of the meadow. Yipee!! Not 10 minutes later we watched our 'resident' coyote wander out into the field pouncing on field mice as he likes to do, nearly every day in the winter . . . then, his partner showed up at the edge of the meadow!! We haven't seen the two of them together before! We had seen the one coyote calling and answering and we've heard them howling many a night but this was a rare sight. The two horses that are sharing the place with us this winter like to play games with the wildlife ~ they are quite comical. We had two ravens visit today as well, first one then the other landed in the middle of the meadow and proceeded to take long and luxurious baths in the snow. Just like chickens taking a dust bath. One of them spent a great deal of time over with the horses, bathing close by and conversing, we're sure. We feel so blessed by the company of these birds and animals . . . and what a magical start to the new year.