The time before winter.

15 souls have joined us for a few months. Six horses and nine cows, probably through January. They belong to a dear friend, an old cowboy who lives down the way. They are his pampered pets and fine looking' beasties, one and all. The coyotes who otherwise own the meadow at this time of year aren't bothered by their new neighbour's. The horses conveniently scare up the rodents. It's a good arrangement for the yotes'. Deer and moose wander through occasionally ~ a lovely time of year. This time before winter.

Autumnal update

My goodness, It has been more than a month since I've posted to 'the homestone.' Where do the days go? The summer and fall seasons are such busy times there is barely a minute to spare. We are well into fall already ~ very cool mornings that call for a fire in the woodstove and and most evenings now, a fire in the wood heater in the basement too. The weather is spectacular! Mostly bright sunny days with a crispness in the air. It's firewood getting time! We had our first snowfall of the season in mid September but fortunately it came and went and we hope not to see snow again for a little while now.

So what's been happening around the place other than a change in the season? Well the dogs are getting older and sillier :) the hens continue to lay beautiful eggs and the sheep are looking great going into winter!

Couldn't resist taking a photo of our hens' lovely light brown eggs in the blue bowl. The bowl is a treasure ~ one of Charmaine Johnson's creations. Charmaine is a potter and visual artist who lives and works in Vancouver BC.

The pretty cloth that the bowl is sitting on is another treasure. It was woven by Hildred Finch, (aka Mum). Hildred is an accomplished weaver who lives in the Similkameen Valley. She is a multi talented woman ~ a writer, a master gardener, the family genealogist, an amazing cook (she still bakes her own bread)! A list of her accomplishments and talents would fill a page !! She recently started a blog called 'daybyday'. It's a wonderful read ~ we provide a link to it here in our links list.

It's Sunday today. The day before our Canadian Thanksgiving. We have so very very much to be thankful for.

Till next time. Bright blessings!

Baby in the grass

At the height of summer we had an estimated 500 swallows around the house and yard... now we're down to 10 or 20 at most. There are two nests with late August babies. One of those nests is just over the kitchen window and we found this little swallow in the grass the other day. David gently placed her back in her nest and she hovered on the edge of it for about an hour and finally snuggled back in with her siblings. Success!! The other nest is inside the tiny old log shack that serves as winter quarters for the sheep. It's amazing to watch the swallow parents swoop in and out of the little shack ~ navigating the wire, the doorways and the low roof.

We had a visit from an owl last night. In the moonlight we could only make out his profile as he perched on the fence post just outside the kitchen. We heard him for hours as he 'bless his need for feed' took out some of the rodents who are in ample supply this time of year.

August days

... and August nights. Two very different worlds on this high plateau. Our days are hot and sunny, our nights and mornings cool and even frosty! We're stockpiling firewood and already thinking about winter. The sheep are happily ensconced in their fall pasture courtesy of David's new fence. They are in seventh heaven ~ a heaven full of willows and shade and lots of space. We're keeping very busy. There is always much work to do ~ managing fifty acres, our off the grid lifestyle and our animals through 4 seasons is a constant challange. That being said, there is little time to write but I will take a few minutes to post some August pics from around the place. Till next time.

Record highs

Along with much of the rest of the world, the province of British Columbia is experiencing a major heat wave right now. Temps in the high 30's and low 40's. 40 celsius is 104 Fahrenheit. In our area it's haying time. That means our ranchers and farmers are out working in the scorching heat right now haying their fields. That's if they are lucky enough to have a crop this year. Our 25 acres of hay fields are also ready. Haying will begin here in a few days. *oh yeah* Here is a pic of our fields being hayed the old fashioned way ~ with horses.

The hay - almost as high as an elephant's eye

Our creek and the hay fields ~ these fields have been hayed since the late 1800's. They are also home and refuge to an everchanging cast of characters. Does and their fawns, coyotes hunting field mice, moose in the wintertime, shorebirds and sandhill cranes ~ our binoculars are always handy on the kitchen counter and our camera often not as handy as it should be :)

Frog and rainbow

We've had some rain. Some great glorious downpours. It's a 'Thank you God and all our angels" kind of situation. We appreciate everyones prayers and those who have sent visions of rain clouds in our direction. Cindi (of Cindi and Jim; a couple who are currently designing wood rings) wrote from New Mexico today to tell us she had been to the Zuni Pueblo and shopped for Fetishes. She specifically bought a frog (rain image) with us in mind. Many thanks Cindi! Speaking of frogs, this little fellow David and I met on our wander this afternoon. We told him he was going to appear on our blog and he didn't seem to mind a bit. It's a cool Sunday evening. The hummingbirds are still consuming great quantities of sugar water. About a quart a day on average. There are wild flowers everywhere right now - thanks to the rain the last few days. Our little flock of sheep are looking so fine! Must update some pics of them tomorrow.

Swallows and visitors

These are dangerous times. It's wildfire season here in British Columbia. We live in the Cariboo Chilcotin where the forests are tinder box dry. Bug killed pine is everywhere and this means fuel for fires. There were fires raging about 10 days ago... since then the rains have come. It's a wonderous thing and we need lots of it. It's been a little cooler too the last couple of days which is a big help. Information on wild fires in the remote areas of BC is scant at best. It's hard to know exactly where the fires are and in what direction they are headed. Thick smoke settles in for days at a time. Ahhh, the sound of rain on the roof. The comforting darkness of rain clouds overhead. David and I recently had a visit from our daughter and son-in-law. A wonderful visit ~ we hadn't seen each other since last year at this time. There was a magical moment just as we were all saying goodbye. For the last few days of our visit we had all been keeping an eye on a baby swallow who left his nest a little too soon and was grounded on the lawn at the corner of the house. He'd been there for a few days and nights with his parents swooping in to feed him and dive bombing us if we came near the little guy - this was reassuring in that we were pretty certain he would make it alright. Then on the morning of CA and Cam's departure, as the four of us walked out of the house and went to check on the grounded swallow - we took a few steps towards him and the little one took flight. A strong unfaltering flight. A wonderful sight.

Some early summer pics

Dining on wild roses and other meadow moments

Stormy days. So much thunder and lightening on the weekend that we had to cut our power for most of a few days. I must admit I was in a state of withdrawal not being able to attend to my emails :) The lightening was close and thunder shook the house! We went for a walk 'between storms' and it was beautiful. We've been getting lots of rain and it has been very cool most days and downright cold at night. Barely a whiff of real summer weather yet. I like it like this ~ much preferring cool weather to the heat of summer. I finally got our kitchen garden planted this past week and the rain has already brought up the first green shoots of radish markers. David has the gravity fed irrigation working like a dream so we are also watering our 5 acres of 'yard'. And the hay fields are looking awesome this year. It was not a good year last year for hay but it looks like it will be an excellent yield this year. We had a rare visit from a grey wolf this past week. He was brazen. Meandering along the ridge then sitting himself down to count our sheep. He must have weighed 120 pounds. David encouraged him to move on and we haven't seen him since. Other than our wolf and hundreds of birds, it's been quiet on the meadow. I did meet a squirrel on my walk this morning. The little critter was dining on the petals of a wild rose. The squirrel was well hidden in the shadows, it was the movement of the rose petals that caught my attention.

The stormy days of May

The oldtimers are predicting a hot dry summer. It's greening up around here right now and the hay fields are still very wet. It's bears, birds and cloudy skies... Lots of bears around right now. We haven't seen any on the meadow but there was a calling card at the top of the drive the other day. Lots of bear sightings on the road to town lately. We've got a good tight place with lots of fencing but we keep our eyes open as we do have what might be considered a tasty smorgasboard of sheep here. We're still getting a good frost about every third morning so it barely feels like spring most days. The meadow and fields are awash with the bright yellow heads of dandelions and that's about it for spring flowers thus far. Birds! Hundreds of birds. Swallows and blackbirds and cowbirds, Canada Geese and swarms of hummingbirds who are feasting on the high test sugar water we supply for them. The cowbirds are constant companions to the sheep. Riding them like floats in a parade. Our little ewe lam 'Bella has become terribly independent. She's off on her own grazing and barely concerned about her mom's whereabouts these days. There's a storm brewing out there... Time to shut off the power till the lightening passes. Time to refill the hummingbirds sugar water.

Till next time ...

One morning in May

Today is Mum & Dad's anniversary. Wish we could be there to give them our love in person. It's the 12th of May and our little Bella is growing like a weed. She is strong and healthy and finding her way in the small flock of sheep that is her family. Her big sister ( born last year) has been a bit pushy with the little one but they are settling down now. Spring comes late here ~ followed closely by summer. There are still patches of snow in the bush and as recently as last week we were getting flurries of snow and morning frosts. Frosts are something we see every month of the year. The trees are due to leaf out any minute now. The finches and blackbirds have been back for quite a while. The swallows came home on the second of May. Their arrival always coincides with the arrival of the mosquitoes. I swear the mosquitoes are as big as bumblebees this year. The swallows (God bless them) are our first line of defense against the mosquitoes. When not dining on the little biters they are busy re-inhabiting last years digs and building anew in preparation for the little ones... They are such a delight with their constant chatter and busy lives. We filled and hung one of the hummingbird feeders on Sunday in anticipation of those little beauties return. Two days later there they were ... Just a few early birds but we will soon be abuzz with hummers at the kitchen window. This is such a busy time of year for us! We are expecting a hot dry summer and that means fire danger. We have acres of bug killed pine (standing dead) trees that have to come out. There is the irrigation to set up and maintain, hay fields to flood and manage, sheep to shear and chickens to tend to... Time to set up the greenhouse and get the gardens going. We look forward to feasting on our own homegrown greens. Chard and spinach, romaine and beet greens ...ahhh. Yes. But first the work. Since our scenery here doesn't offer much colour as yet, here are a few flowers from a friend. My email-pal in upstate New York has been sending pics of her garden ... she is an avid grower of hot peppers and all manner of flowers & shrubs. She just sent a beautiful bouquet of lilacs ~ deep purple lilacs. So pretty. And her lovely little azalea with it's first open flowers. And on that note of colour ~ I'm back to work. Thanks Donna! And Happy Anniversary Mum and Dad!

Blossoms on you ...

Ahhhh cherry blossom time. This is a photograph taken by our nephew David Michael Finch. It arrived in an email from him this morning. I couldn't resist posting his beautiful photo. David lives where my David grew up - in the Similkameen Valley of BC. It is definately spring in the valley! Thanks for the blossoms David.

The greening snow

Even though we knew it was coming it was a bit of a shock to wake up to a heavy snowfall. There was at least 3 inches of snow on the ground by 8 am. A bit of shock for the birds and the sheep too - even the chickens were suitably subdued this morning. So we slogged outside and knocked the wet snow off the solar panels ... fed and watered the animals and reassured our little ewe lamb that although summers are short here - they are not as short as the one she just witnessed. It's just after 3 in the afternoon now and the snow has almost disappeared. It's still wet and cold but the hay brown grass of yesterday (in this pic) has been turned a whole shade greener courtesy of our late spring snowfall.

Thursday before dinner

April showers seem to be coming in the form of hail & snow. One moment it's a snow storm, the next hour it's warm enough to sit out on the back porch with a cup of tea while we throw the ball for the dogs. The ground is the colour of last summer's hay bales. The grass has a faint aura of green about it. All around us the meadow is a-buzz with springtime visitors ~ waterfoul and shorebirds, our resident moose and her yearling are to be spotted most mornings now grazing on the willows or wading knee deep through the water at the low spots on the hay field. We have welcomed back the blackbirds and kestrels, the mallard ducks and sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans, bluebirds, plovers, grouse, robins and Canada Geese. Along the road that leads to town we have seen marmots and black bears (two cubs and their mom just the other day) and of course deer, deer and more deer... We burned our brush piles this past weekend. We had a good cover of fresh fallen snow, an overcast sky and it was just the window of opportunity we had hoped for. This winter we (the 'royal we' for the most part) harvested our winter wood supply from the standing dead trees inside our fence line and over by the cabin. There were alot of brush piles and the resulting fires were impressive! The burn adds nutrients to the soil and rejuvenates plant growth. As a note to myself ~ The Massachusetts Audubon Society has an excellent resource on managing small grasslands for grassland birds. Life goes on apace. The sun was shining on the meadow this morning and we're expecting snow tonight. Right now it is raining and very welcome too. It's almost dinner time. Nice to have the wood stove on evenings like these ~ it's wet and cold outside and very cozy in the house.