A walk in the snow

Our place from the main gate.

The first real snowfall of the winter yesterday and a beauteous sight it was. I took the opportunity to go for a nice long walk, camera in hand. The fog moved in just after the snow let up. It was so quiet; just the crunch of snow underfoot.

And of course, a visit to The Old One under his first blanket of snow. The Homestone ... the stone that marks where home is.

The night that exists outside of time ....

Vincent carved our Halloween pumpkin today while David and I went to town to ship new rings off to some very lovely people. David's brother Vincent has carved alot of pumpkins over the years as a single Dad and an uncle. He was somewhat challanged by the pumpkin we had at hand here. The poor old squash had been adorning our kitchen counter since Thanksgiving and was past her prime to be sure. Still, when we arrived back home after dark, there on the old wooden table next to the greenhouse was a magnificent double sided pumpkin. It's a scene of our house and the meadow and as Vince described her "one lucky witch" making off over the moon wearing a Touch Wood Ring. The other side of the pumpkin is a close up of the ring that his happy witch is admiring upon her hand. There are no trick or treaters out here in the middle of nowhere and rarely ever visitors. The pumpkin carving was a simply a labour of love ~ one that the three of us enjoyed along with any wild critters who may have passed through the meadow last night. We thought it would be fun to share it with a wider audience. Happy Halloween & Blessings on Samhain, the Celtic New Year. Till next time (Here is a good dissertation on All Hallow's Eve should you be so inclined.)

And last but absolutely not least :) Happy Birthday Aiden. Our awesome grandson is One Year Old today.

Late October on the meadow ~ a couple of pics

October sunrises and Mom's birthday

The last few days have seen some spectacular sunrises. The mornings have been crisp and cold with lots of sparkle! It's become overcast and windy this afternoon so it's a great time for being hard at work indoors looking out at the changing season. David and I are staying busy and both feeling so much better than we did in September. The cranial palsy that I developed in early September as a result of the virus we picked up, hasn't let up yet ~ but if the docs are right, it should clear up within a few weeks now. After a month and a half of double vision in one eye and the attending rotten headaches, it makes me supremely thankful for my usual good health and the use of all my senses. Just a good reminder to take care and not take anything for granted.

Yesterday would have been my dear Mom's birthday. Happy Birthday Mom. She'd be 73 today.

She would have two beautiful granddaughters (my sister Laura's daughters) and would, without a doubt, be happily involved in their lives and marvelling at the bright, lovely girls they are. This time of year, she might be making 'Apple Crips' with them.

It's amazing how evocative handwriting can be ~ In her memory and in her own hand, here's Mom's Apple Crisp Recipe.

Time now for me to make some dinner and perhaps a dessert from Mom's cookbook which has a magic way of making me feel she's close.

Oh, how she would have loved the big wood cook stove I have in my kitchen and the view out my kitchen window ...

Love you Mom.

(Patricia at 18)

Oct 4th Snow in the Chilcotin

The first of October went something like this. . . spectacular fall colours and the sheep content with their lot in life :) Our Canada Geese made a brief appearance yesterday evening to say so long till spring. At least we were pretty certain that is what they were doing...

And then this morning ... Winter, she's upon us!

It's the 4th of October and the snow was falling at 4am last night. It just quit at 2:30 this afternoon. Very pretty and bit of a shock as an early first snowfall always is!

It'll melt, we're almost certain. Still, it's a darn good motivator to get those last outdoor jobs sewn up.

Just as an aside ... Our official ' email responder' ; (that'll be me; Nicola) is still suffering somewhat due to the cranial nerve palsy ~ double vision, headaches .... not much fun, but this too shall pass :)

I just want to apologize again about my painfully slow responses to some folks. I will write ~ we are here ~ and I thank you again for your patience!

How about that snow eh?!

Some September scenes

It's been one of those months!

The end of September already!! While it's been a quiet couple of months on the homestone blog, busy has been the name of the game around the homestead and busy we are still. The haying is done, the summer has fled and while autumn is showing her glorious colours, it will not be long now till the first snow flies.

David and Vince are almost finished putting the addition on our garage to house the truck and plow in preparation for the winter months ahead. The mountains of firewood we will need for winter is also on the immediate to do list and we are dealing with some rather inconvenient medical challenges right now as well. I seem to have developed an rather uncommon cranial nerve palsy. A by-product of a nasty virus David and I picked up at the beginning of September which we are still not 100% recovered from. The palsy is causing double vision in my right eye and nasty headaches. It's not the end of the world but it has been a worry and it has slowed down my work on the computer quite considerably. To any of our wood ring folks dropping in to the Homestone ~ please bear with me and know that you will hear from me as soon as possible.

Apart from that, life is good. These are spectacularly beautiful days. Rich golds and yellows all around us and the reappearance of our four legged autumn visitors.

We have taken lots of pictures of the changing season and will post some soon. Till next time ~ take care and to our wood ring folks; thanks for your patience.

Haying with horses

August in the Cariboo-Chilcotin means haying time. Our 20 acres of hay meadows have been hayed for more than 100 years. The old timers in the area know these meadows well as do their children and many of their grandkids.

This year, as in years past, our friend and closest neighbour; Gordon Woods brought in his team of horses to hay the meadows the old fashioned way.

One of his Belgians; Jerry, is an old hand at haying ~ the mare is new to the task this year and Gord is quite pleased with how well she's taken to it.

Friends and family pitch in at different stages of the haying ritual.

A lunch break; and Gord's sister Vi from Kamloops tucks herself into the little log cabin and puts out an awesome spread for the crew including her own incredibly delicious smoked salmon.

It was a good crop of hay this year and it will help keep Gordon's livestock well fed this winter.

August on the meadow

We awoke to a very frosty world this morning. Summer is not long here. Here are a few pics to capture August on the meadow.

The main hay fields looking toward the house and cabin.

And, the first of the hay laid down :)

Our three little robins on their last day in the nest. And the tree; no more than 5 feet tall where mama robin built her nest. Right next to the horseshoe pits too !!

Lovely pastoral scenes.

The sheep enjoying their green pasture and the blue skies.

Below, 'Mister' our 4 year old ram watches a deer up on the ridge. Look at all those beetle killed pines!! So much to do. All of it enjoyable.

Early August days

Today is overcast with light showers.

These are beautiful summer days, made especially nice by our cool meadow nights.

Here are a few photographs David took the other day. One of the 'Standing People'; a gigantic spruce tree ( David's brother Vinny can be seen at the base of the tree), an old corral and some pretty summer thistles.