Hunde Haus

Return To Stoneman Mountain

2012-08-12T22:04:00.000-07:00

I fell in love with Stoneman Mountain while there last year and definitely had to get there again this year. It was as gorgeous as I remember. And holy crap, this time I saw deer! A doe and a buck crossed the road, started stripping off Fireweed flowers, and then walked on into the forest. I don't think I breathed the entire time.

Stoneman is approx. 5000 feet at it’s peak, about an hours drive on a couple pretty rough forest service logging roads so a 4x4 is a must. It could be done in a car about halfway and that would still make for seeing some glorious mountains and valleys and views.

Set out about 10 a.m. on a beautiful sunny day, stopped every 3 feet ( almost ) and took photos, got home just as the thunder, lightening and rain gong show began. Honestly, that in itself was almost as exciting and beautiful as Stoneman!

This felt amazingly terrific, it was a sweltering day. But only for a minute...it is glacier water and gave my feet a headache!

Grandma’s Excellent Adventure

2011-12-09T10:59:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I made the long and tortuous journey into Vancouver, to visit with my most favorite people in the world, Kelly, Sumeet and Logan.

And because he makes my heart go wild when I see/think of him I’ve decided that Logan’s newest middle name is Be Still My Heart.

Between Sumeet leaving for work and Kelly coming home from work I had FUNFUNFUN with Logan! We listened to cheesy Christmas tunes, we read some Christmas Carols and stories, we walked around and around the apartment where we got stuck at some point by the table. On the table was a baby food cookbook, and on the cover of the book is the adorable face of a happy baby. Logan was mesmerized by that face. He spoke the language that only other babies can possibly understand….baby gibberish.

Which reminded me of a story that Sumeet had told me before she left for work. She was standing in a line-up with Logan in his carrier…in front of them was a baby approximately Logan’s age. Logan made full eye contact and began speaking to the other baby. What do they say to each other? What is the thought process? I still can’t stop thinking about it.

Once Sumeet left and it was beyond obvious that Logan had no intentions of falling asleep I set him down and we took some photos. Cheesy Christmas photos…I love them!

By the end of all the mind tiring fascination with all the beaded garlands and large plastic Christmas balls, and the strange red hat he was exhausted, as was evident by this last photo.

I absolutely cherished my first foray into grandbaby-sitting. More please!

The dog who hated toys

2011-09-30T21:07:00.000-07:00

That dog would be this dude

Okay, hate is a ridiculous word to use. More like has no need for them.

At all. Ever.

He favor’s the bottoms of my jeans, most especially when I am putting them on. Or scooping poop is another great time to trip me up by going between my legs, grabbing the bottom firmly and yank!

Or the shop vac extension. He kept nosing open the closet where it was stored and stealing it, so I allowed him to claim it. And it’s not like he chews the crap outta’ it, he just gives it a few chomps and then stashes it. A couple times a week after Ticket and Watcher are in a deep rem sleep, he will bring it out, chew it a few times and nose it back.

Weirdo.

Did she just call me a weirdo?

Watcher and Ticket on the other hand, are game for any kind of fun with anything, anytime or anywhere. They especially favor ripping up stuffies and chewing apart sticks. Any species of tree will do, although they seem partial to Willow and Maple. Not weirdo's.

I like this ingenious idea from some folks in Vermont. Sticks, cut from Maple trees marketed and sold to ~~idiots~~ other folks who for whatever reason, are ~~clueless~~ stickless. Fetch Stix

I don’t do TV

2011-09-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

I believe it is now 6 years that I have not possessed a TV. The bill for the luxury of it had climbed from $72 to $80 per month when I called a halt to the whole damn thing.

It was becoming horribly expensive, the packages were stupid, and I never watched it 3/4 of the time it was on anyway. It was background noise that had become a normal part of everyday living.

Youtube started the ball rolling for me. Do you realize that you can watch full length movies, tv shows, documentaries, cartoons…you name it, for free there? All genres and all eras! Playlists and playlists. Look at it as a free Blockbuster’s.

TV stations all over the world stream their news online now. A lot of those stations as well have their scheduled TV shows available for FREE an hour after they have aired!

Then there’s torrents. If it’s not available somewhere for free online you can always download it from one many tracker sites. Want to watch all seasons and episodes of your favorite TV show…voila! Want to watch a hard to find film…voila!

I have a few favorite sites that I frequent when I want to soak up some fun and or brain info. One is the National Film Board of Canada. Over 1500 films of all lengths, documentaries, interactive…all genre’. Love this site.

One of my favourite films I’ve watched there was about the Mohawks on their reserve in Kanehsatake in SW Quebec. A short summary: In 1990 the town of Oka ( on the edge of the reserve ) decided they wanted to take some burial ground land, that was an obvious cemetery with numerous headstones etc., and make a golf course. The Mohawks said fuck off. It became the first well publicized violent conflict between First Nations and the Canadian government in the late 20th century. The Quebec Provincial police, local police, RCMP, and finally the army came in. First Nations bands across Canada held blockades along all major roads, highways, railways etc. It lasted more than 2 and a half months and one person died. Read more about it all here and then watch the film below or on the NFB’s site here.

Another site I like for watching online is Top Documentary Films. A tip for this site…sometimes it says it is only a short clip for the documentary. Don’t turn it off, just let it play out, the entire film will be there. Crackle is another good site and Viewster is not bad either.

I’ll never have to buy another TV ( on average they only keep their full potential for 1 and a half years ) every few years, not one more outrageously expensive bill, nor not one more increase in cost. And, aside from some opinions, it is not a major ( or minor ) wear and tear on your computer! As well, you can take your computer/movies wherever you go, unlike your TV.

Now, after I've said all that, go outside and play!

Wow...what a view!

2011-09-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

After 7 years of apartment living, Kelsie has become a first time house renter! And whoa, what a great rental!

It sits on top of a mini mountain just outside of Hope, with a view that made my jaw drop. Every room, except 2, has a magnificent view of the Fraser River and Cascade Mountains.. And those 2 that don’t, have views of the forest. Le sigh…it’s absolutely beautiful.

The view from the extremely spacious deck on top of the garage, and the view from the living and dining room…

In the yard was this odd plant. Is it an Elephant’s Ear? It looks like it, but the leaves on this one are much wider than any other I have seen.

Along the back of the property were these bundles of Curly Willow branches, and thicker stalks. I’ll grab a few next time and get my craft on. :)

Happy first time house renter!

The sun was shining all day…

But the smog was disgusting. I haven’t seen it this thick for a few years. Crazy!

Yesterday was a great day. The company was as always lots of fun and the view made my heat go pitter patter. Yay!

Touching the tops of trees

2011-09-01T14:48:00.000-07:00

My heart loves these mountains. Any mountains will do, but because I live amongst these beauties, this is where my heart beats.

I quite often oogle and ogle at all the switchback logging roads around here while on Google Earth, and dream of the time I’ll go. But, my piddly little van would never ever make it to the top, or even near. And that irritates the hell outta’ me.

I got an invite yesterday…. I went with Kelsie and Doug to the top of 5000 foot Stoneman Mountain. It was absolutely one of my favourite day trips since I’ve lived here in Hope.

I think we crossed 5 bridges and 2 different valleys. The only wildlife we saw were Ravens, plenty of other birds, and a few Trout. Not surprising though as Doug’s truck runs on propane and was as loud as a freakin’ freight train. Oh, and the proof that were indeed other critters around. Bear scat and Elk prints. Without further adieu…here’s the trout, poop and print.

The first valley…where I willed the bears to come out and start lumbering around. Which they didn’t.

What is wrong with these trees? Sad looking things…

And down to the valley above…

Heading up…

Came to this mess, realized we were only about 100 feet from the top and stopped.

And the foliage…a Wild Yellow Raspberry…and only one!

It was a really great few hours! Thanks for the invite Kelsie and Doug!

and then there’s Chrissy’s summer home

2011-08-30T07:00:00.001-07:00

Her man’s family has land right smack on the banks of the Fraser River in Yale, so every summer is spent fishing from the banks with nets, net dipping, or poles. Oh, and swimming and sucking in as much Vit D as they possibly can.
I went there yesterday and it was hard, no, near impossible to leave. I loved it.

Where the muddy Fraser River meets at the opening of the creek

There were many pockets of Garnet Sand, but I didn’t see anything bigger than coarse sand. :(

I very stupidly wore jeans…what the fuck was I thinking?? It was sweltering hot! But, I did dip my tootsies in.

A friend of Chrissy’s dip netting

A Brown Bear across the river came out of the bush for a moment, but quickly headed back in.

I was walking to my car and turned around…and almost returned. I could swear I heard my chair whispering for me to come back and set myself back down.

Bye Chrissy, and thanks for the invite..I absolutely loved it!

Logan Day!

2011-08-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

This past Friday was one of those days that will be indelibly imprinted in my brain. Logan is laughing. And smirking. And lifting his lip in a sneer, with disgust. He’s been doing this for quite some time, but it was the first time I’ve seen it!

Listening to Dad ( check out the lift and sneer of the lip at the end, it's a family trait hehehe )

Fantastic hand to eye co-ordination

Smiling all the time!

He’s teething! Already at only 3 and a half months!! Poor little baby…big rocks trying to break through his gums…so very very unfair.

I’ve got a plan in place, and if it all works out, I will be living a lot closer to my grandbaby. Oh my…I miss him. Once a month visits are just not cutting it.

This and That

2011-08-19T18:10:00.000-07:00

Ticket and I had some personal space/girl time away from the ~~thugs~~ boys and walked around our area yesterday.

She’s so different when all alone with me. Introspective in some ways. I wonder if she is relaxing in the differentness of the mood, or wondering why they aren’t here. Regardless, I know she is enjoying herself for all the uninterrupted meandering she does.

She does a lot of flitting about and smelling here and there so it is difficult to get a good photo of her unless she is focused on something.

Yesterday I got a lot of these:

So I focused myself on the flowers that were screaming to be photographed.

Wild Sweet Peas

There were pink ones

And white ones

Not sure what this one is…I used to know the name but my memory of it has gone blank!

These are wild snapdragons, sometimes called Monkey Flowers

I’ve never know the name of this one…maybe you do?

I have a HUGE Wild Pink Rose bush behind the house, in the early summer the smell is absolutely intoxicating. Here’s what they looked like a month or so ago:

and here’s the rose hips yesterday. I’ll be harvesting them after they go through one frost. Or when their stems are brown…whichever comes first. I know a couple of people that make jams and jellies out of them but I find it too bland, but they make a helluva great cuppa tea!

Queen Anne’s Lace

Last evening I visited with Kelsie…we had a couple cups of tea and chatted. Nice visit. As I was leaving I spied these boots!!

LOVE THESE BOOTS!! But alas, they belong to this little girl, and I don’t need a 6 year old girl pissed at me. So I didn't steal them.

That’s the perfectly delightful Brianne, Kelsie’s gorgeous daughter. She just learned to ride her 2 wheeler! Congrats Brianne...that's a huge accomplishment!

I had some extended family camping not far from here and they drove into Hope to visit with me for bit. Met them at our beautiful park downtown and took a few photos that I'll put up tomorrow, but here's one of Ticket that Wendy took with her phone.

K, I need a nice cuppa Red Rose. Hope you are enjoying today, it was super sunny and warm with a much loved gentle breeze. Perfect!

My Dirty World ~ Part II

2011-08-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

Oh ferfucksake man.

A week or so ago I spread a huge bag of shavings in the yard to keep the dogs from bringing the dust in. ( teeny yard, no grass ) But seemingly, it wasn't helping. Vacuuming every 2 days didn't help at all. Frustrated!

So, yesterday I am again vacuuming and turned around to tell Ticket to ~~shut the fuck up~~ please be quiet ( she wants to eat the vacuum ) and I see this effing plume of dust coming out the back end of the effing vacuum heading straight at the JUST vacuumed kitchen area. What the ???

I empty it, clean it out, put it back together and try yet again. Same damn thing. My eyes and brain glaze over wondering how long this has been happening. There I was blaming the dust from the trains and the dogs. And again, oh ferfucksake.

I go online and google "why the eff does the vacuum blow dirt out of it's rear end" ( but nicer ) and find out that this can be easily fixed by buying paper filters. And this blows me away.

It's a shop vac ferfucksake. Aren't they supposed to be all powerful, so fantastic they suck up water and it's all good? But dust knocks it out? One of the reasons I wanted the shop vac was it's reputation for it's toughness and apparently as it is written on their guarantee that it does not require filters.

But according to a few message board shop vac *experts*, after time they no longer do the deed they used to do so well. So, I guess I need to buy filters ferfucksake.

Tomorrow I shall rent a pressure washer and hose this tin can out of the meter of dust that a-hole blew out..

On to a more positive topic; ( and less with a potty mouth, although I can't promise there will be absolutely no swearing ) I've made some changes in my life lately. Most of them having to do with standing up for myself more and not allowing myself to be run over.

And what comes hand in hand with that? Some people think you have become a bitch. To them I say, I'm not being a bitch, I'm just being stronger. C'est la vie...

Not wanting to miss one moment of the big fight....

Ticket and Watcher warming each others bums

Pee break on the way to Manning Park last fall

I hope you are enjoying these last days of summer. We had a lousy one here, and I feel bad for my sunaholic friend Chrissy. So to her I say, get out there and soak up that sun...snow will be upon us in no time! (ducking from all the useless suntan lotion she's throwing at me )

Flowers everywhere!

2011-08-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

My Shamrock plants, a purple and a green that I planted together, lovelovelove camping outside in the late Spring and entire Summer. Technically, it's a Wood Sorrel called Oxalis Triangularis and can live outdoors in our area if protected. I have had mine for 10 years or more and have divided it up ( it has teeny tiny bulbs ) dozens of times and given them away. It goes through a dormancy period in the winter...all the stems and leaves gone...quite pitiful. But then pops back up in March or so if we have plenty of light. It's also edible! RV99F3HHMYF5

Visited a friend’s garden the other day. Just in time for the Loganberries. My timing is perfection.

I ate so many I was burping Loganberries.

My Sage is going through it’s final stages for this year. The seeds have dropped, and it’s more yellow than green. I like the following photo of it as it shows all stages and the flowers are still beautiful.

And mmmmmm!! Chocolate Mint! I’ve never done anything with it…except walk by and squish a leaf and drown in the aroma daily.

When I had a garden ( waaay too many moons ago ), I had Pineapple, Orange, Chocolate and both Spear and Peppermint Mints on both sides of the door. Whenever the dogs came in or out they would brush themselves on it and the smell that came wafting from them all was so closeyoureyes and relax with it all….I miss my mints.

This is a St John's Wort living behind my home. It is rampant around here…dots the meadows and runs alongside the highways and byways right next to the Chicory and Golden Rod.

Mmmmmm, Blackberries. My very favourite berry. This year I plan on making a few goodies with them. Jam, pies, some juice to add to Olive Oil for salad dressings ( omg yum! ) and just a helluva lot of frozen berries. Just an FYI…Blackberry Daiquiri's in the winter months are especially favourited.

Johnny Jump Up wildly growing among the bush and trees behind us.

And a photo of Henry from almost 2 years ago…geez, hard to believe he was ever this teeny!

Bears and Shitting Your Pants.

2011-08-10T16:14:00.000-07:00

Found this little gem while organizing the disgustingly huge mass of photos and videos on my comp that, well, need to be organized.

Yesterday Chrissy took me to a spot, right along the Fraser River in Yale, that she, the 2 boys and man in her life( his family's land ) spend a large majority of their summer.

We got there and I had to take 5 minutes to just suck it all in. Of course, you have to completely love mountains and rivers and sand ( bloody well beach sand!!...bleached over sparkly clean silt basically ) and this canyon to totally appreciate it.

I walked around with my mouth open. Dotted throughout the forest of massive Fir trees and Salmonberry bushes were 3 tents, a cooking and eating station and plenty of smaller areas to sunbathe, read, play, whatever. All of which was right on the banks, literally, of the Fraser River. By the time school begins and they are back permanently in their house a month from now the creeks will swell from the last of the mountain melt, which floods the river and voila!/shame the ideal camping spot is under water till next summer.

Wow. That was the one word I said a good dozen times. It was just so beautiful. Then I reached for my camera, so I could take some photos and drool over them later.

I had left the batteries for the camera, in the photo charger. At home.

We thoroughly enjoyed the views, then went on to another spot where more fun could be had. It was one of the many run off creeks ( from the melting mountaintop snow on both sides of the river ) and that area as well was just stunning. The creek water was 100% see through and we could see a half dozen Salmon ( Pinks I think? ) resting before they fought the rest of the way up the mighty Fraser to their spawning grounds. Next spring I'd like to go there once a week to photograph the progression of the river, creek and banks alongside them. Try my hand at a time lapse mini film when done. :)

Next we headed over to a spot on the opposite side of town, (stopping for my freshly charged batteries...yay! ) that Chrissy and her friends used to play around when they were kids.

We followed a pretty well worn vehicle path

Which narrowed to this

and then we saw these fresh bear claw marks

Being as how it is berry, fish and camper garbage season...and there are bears walking around all the time, we decided to head back. But we carried big sticks and talked loudly!

These are 2 human and animal tunnels that run under Highway #1

This water is flowing down Silver Creek from the Cascade Mountain Range and right into the Fraser River.

Oh! Another little gem!

Enjoy today...go do one spontaneous act of kindness.

Sweat, Swearing and Happy

2011-08-07T15:08:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a day of sweat, swearing and finally a few happy moments.

The sweat and swearing involved separating 7 of these 3 month old Silkie babies

from one rooster, 3 hens, and 6 five day old chicks. The moment we ( Fred and I ) tried doing any type of herding, chaos ensued.

Once the adult birds realized we weren’t coming after them or the wee ones, they told the 7 teenagers to go hide somewhere, stay together and to shut the fuck up.

Seeriously, they told them that.

They told them and they listened so damn well we started thinking they had fled the yard and were now carousing the streets of Hope.

Hacking my way through Blackberry AND Raspberry bushes 8 miles thick *shaking fist at Fred and his ~~lousy~~ non-existent pruning skills* I spotted them huddled in a corner almost completely camouflaged.

And not saying one damn word.

A 1/2 hour later, 6 were all safely crated. The last one was just too damn fast!, or we were just too spent from it all, whatever. The 6 were loaded into the car, ready for the trip to be passed off to the ~~sucker~~ lady who was offering them a new home. She’s known as the Food Lady and her blog can be found right there → Woo Tube. ( for future reference, a link to her blog is also found in the link at the top here under “Human Stuff” Also for future reference, she, along with others operates a Border Collie rescue right here → B.C. Border Collies )

We went in the house, bathed our wounds, and headed off to meet up. Then came the spectacle of exchanging them from Fred's crate to the Food Lady's. 5 of them were easy peasy, but the last one loosened itself from Fred’s grip and took off running like crazy for grass and bush that was even more foreboding looking than the Blackberry/Raspberry jungle at Fred’s house.

Fer fuck sake man.

The 3 of us were vainly trying to catch this 8 inch chicken in grasses that at some point were over our heads. Absolutely ridiculous. The Food Lady sent in a young pup she is fostering to perhaps flush out the chick. Seconds later, the sound of a chick being eaten alive came from the grass.

The chick was fine. Oh, there was a bit of canine saliva on it. And it was obviously traumatized from the whole wicked morning, but then so was I. Fair’s fair.

Happy moments from yesterday; 1 ) I was able to grab a big ass bale of shavings while out. It’ll keep some of the silt that sits on top of the dirt in my small yard down. Less dust in my home. I really could use 3-4 more, but was in someone’s car and not my van. Next time. 2 ) Received $12 in coupons for free products from Island Farms! I had purchased some milk from a store here and it curdled ( ewwww! ) within 2 days. Long story short, the store owner blamed it on crappy milk, and the company blamed it on poor handling on the store’s end. I profited, and that’s all that matters to that story. :) 3 ) Was asked to house and dog-sit for 3 days next week. It's within eye sight so it's only a matter of feeding and tending to the dog. I'll take Ticket over to play with it daily as well as take it on walks with us. Also, they've offered me the use of their tub so I can bathe my guys! It's been almost a year since they were bathed; there is only a 6 gallon hot water tank in this sardine can and that wouldn't even get one of them damp. So, I'll make a few bucks AND have clean dogs. Sweet!

I took the next 2 photos of the field where we met up with the Food Lady

This one shows the height of the grass the ~~bastard~~ chick escaped to. Told you it was head height!

And that was my yesterday.

Today has been calm and quiet. So far.

Observations and photos

2011-08-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

Henry’s nose fits perfectly in my eye socket.

‘Bruised’ eyeballs scare small children. ( sorry again to the little ~~scaredy cat~~ girl at the post office. )

Fact: if dogs sleep on your pillow and bedding before you retire for the night you will have sweet dreams and a restful sleep.

Fact: I’ve never before used the word “retire” when speaking about going to bed. Sounds like I’m a high falootin’ 1920’s rich bitch with a cigarette holder. And a drawl. And a dry martini. And white elbow length gloves.

I bet I would have been beautiful too. Like the grand dame below.

The pride parade ( the photo above is from that day ) made me feel, ohhh, I don’t know, less outwardly colorful. My anthem now is to wear more color.

I’m going to wear brighter colors! A brighter shade of blue jeans? Maybe a sparkle of pink nail polish? Clean my white runners more often?

Yikes, I need a make-over!

Fact: Grandbabies make your heart hurt sooooo bad in a good way. It’s akin to experiencing the same intense love you have for your own child, but different. It’s freer. It’s exhilarating. It’s a grand thing.

This 1 window skylight of the 2 in my sardine can makes me smile.

Enjoy your day…You only have one August 4th in 2011!

Blog Stats

2011-08-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

This blog was started so family members could keep track of my life. Also so I could have somewhere to journal and keep all my most favorite photos! It's remained with a very small following ( thank gawd, because I hate crowds ) because I do not *advertise* my blog on other sites, join groups of other bloggers, nor join up to search engines. I like it fine the way it is thank you very much!

While I have Sitemeter tracking some stats of visitors to this blog, I find that Googles own Stats are much more interesting.

Keeping in mind that Google Stats have been tracking since May 2009, here are some of the stats!

Here's an overview

Here's the stats from the Posts section of the overview. I am not surprised at all about the first one being "Chain Saw Carving Capital of the World Hope BC", but the second one did! "Cowboy Boot Windchime, Stuff and the Fruitcake Lady" also brings back some sad memories. One being that my Cowboy Boot Windchime was stolen from me by a co-worker at my last place of employment. So, if anyone is driving down Stave Lake Road in Mission BC and sees it, steal it back for me! ( and kick the thief Renee in the ass. K, thanks. )

These next stats are the Traffic Sources. I'm just thankful that people spell Hunde Haus correctly.

Some search words/phrases that people have used to make their way here....

And the last stat, the Audience.

There ya go! Stats from a really small blog with an even smaller audience.

I spent a couple of days vamping up my blog. I LOVED it. For about 20 minutes. Now I realize I will spend a couple more re-vamping. I'm not loving it so much any more. I do like the spark of color of flowers but there's just something not quite right. But that's all for another day, because TODAY I AM GOING TO SEE MY GRANDBABY LOGAN!! YES I KNOW I'M YELLING!!!

Pride Parade

2011-08-01T20:38:00.002-07:00

Wow, my eyes are still sore from all the bright colors, my ears are still ringing from all the music and sounds, and my mind is still boggled and loving all the fellowship and pure joy I experienced yesterday at the Pride Parade in Vancouver with my friend Rob.

Police, Firefighters, Ambulance, Nurses, Punks, Dykes, Trannies, and a big bucket full of others were there!

I took over 500 photos. My delete button is worn down, as is my pointer finger. It was so incredibly hard to select which ones to put here so I almost put them all. Go grab a cup of tea/coffee and come back and relax to see them all! Enjoy! ( as usual, click on the photos to enlarge them! )

Dogless on a dog stroll..

2011-07-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

A few days ago Kelsie and I drove just a few minutes out of town to a great dog stroll area I recently came across. Apparently, when she was a kid her parents took her camping there!

It was a quick walk before she began work so we could see what flowers are blooming now, so the dogs stayed at home. And boy did they lay on the guilt when I got back. Mopey faces, lottsa’ whining and snivelling. It was sad and pitiful.
Back to the walk…

The Salmonberry Tale

First there were two...then one...then none.

The End.

The only bad thing I can say about Salmonberries is that they are small and go down the gullet too quickly.

Huckleberries!

Here’s a memory of Huckleberries; North Vancouver, specifically Seymour Mountain when it was mostly bush, 8 years old. Instead of walking on the road to go to/from school I would take a shortcut through the woods. Walking across log bridges to cross the creek and eating handful after handful of Huckleberries. Ahhhh yes, good times. :)

Same thing goes for these little beauties though; too small and disappear too fast.

Spirea

Foxglove

If I hadn’t bent over to scratch an itch *shakes fist at mosquitoes* we wouldn’t have seen this Foxglove. There was only one, how weird is that??? and it was bent over and under another plants leaves. The rain had beaten it down.

Wild Strawberry

Go West young woman!

or East...whatever.

Cement Art

Natural gas pipeline completely effing up the view.

A teensy bit of vertigo happening!

The Lupine’s are dying out, but the Daisy’s are flourishing.

A young Heart Rock.

Camping spot! Even I, a complete anti-campinginatent type of ~~spoiled~~ human, would enjoy pitchin’ a tent here! ( only for one night though )

A bouquet of Daisies.

It’s supposed to stop raining by late morning today. I hope so, as I have plans with a dear friend to do outdoor stuff! Here's hoping we all have a fantastic day!

I Am A Canadian

2011-06-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

I Am A Canadian

I am not a rioter, or a fear monger.

I wear balaclava's only when skiing or tobogganing

and the only cocktails I partake of

are made from Canadian Rye.

I love hockey, oh yes, I really do,

but I also love football, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, baseball and darts.

Okay, yes, and curling.

But to each his own, and that's just fine eh.

I respect my police, the courts and our laws.

If I feel something needs changing,

I don't take hostages, blow up buildings

or kill my politicians.

I politely discuss it face to face with the powers that be,

and we change it together.

I have opportunities, great health care,

understand and appreciate our gun laws.

I can go anywhere in the world

proudly proclaiming my citizenship, and be warmly welcomed.

I have clean water, Smarties and Red Rose Tea.

Canadians have never owned slaves,

we have our own breed of horse; The Canadian,

we drink real beer...not yellow water, and we are just

so flippin' nice, kind and gentle.

Our government recognizes the health benefits of our weed,

admits it,

and some of us are legally allowed to grow it.

Same sex marriages are performed everywhere,

we truly love and admire diversity,

we are a proud proud melting pot of people,

and I am honored to be a Canadian.

Colleen Donnelly ~ June, 17, 2011

Ohhhh pretty flowers!

2011-06-16T18:49:00.001-07:00

There is a massive growth of Wild Roses immediately behind my home. Oh my gosh, the smell wafting from them is glorious!

A few further feet down, Scotch Broom

Lupine

I have no clue what these sweet things are, but they remind me of French Lavender

Delicate Wild Daisy

Lilac…oh how I love you!

Wild Lily

And a friend told me the name of this a couple years back, but the memory is lost! ( Jean, are you reading this? Help! )

I had spotted the Lilies after coming back from a friends home, and so pulled over to photograph them. Looking just beyond them I noticed a rough road and fields of wild flowers! Whoa, how cool is it to live somewhere for a few years and all of a sudden find another perfect dog walking stroll! The grass was knee high, and I panic at the thought of ticks on the dogs, so no walking there yet. But come Fall and Winter we are definitely heading there.

Hope you enjoyed your Thursday!

Please stop growing old

2011-06-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

That's what Watcher hears me whisper to him occasionally.

He now opts to place himself a few feet in front of the electric fireplace when his joints and bones are complaining.

I watch him select how and where he will carefully place his feet when going up and down our 3 steps to the yard.

He is getting just a touch more impatient with both Ticket and Watcher when they are close to him. Most especially Henry, as Henry just blindly flails himself around, unable to take note of Watcher's discomfort.

His muzzle, ear and feet tip hairs are over taking the black ones. I tell him he looks distinguished, but to please stop growing old.

Since the weather has been nicer lately, and the fireplace is not turned on except at night when it's colder, he finds himself a sunbeam outside and drenches himself in the warmth of the au natural heat.

He has always been my velcro boy, but lately he has become my canyouputmeinyourpocket boy. He simply cannot sit closer/lay closer/spend enough time with me to suit him.

He is asking for more time alone with me. And I gladly give it to him.

Ticket senses Watcher's neediness now and only once challenged it. She tried to get in between us with her tom-boyish pushiness and he only had to lift his lip once, with no snarl, and she backed up and let him be. Very unlike her. Good girl Tick.

But poor Henry...he has never ever learned to properly read these guys, being blind does that to a dog. He still refuses to accept that Watcher does not appreciate or want a dog hug. He will go on forever having his dog crush on Watcher. Keep on keepin' on baby.

And Watcher, please stop growing old.

Yards make for happy dogs, and their person!

2011-06-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

Since my home is on wheels, and where we are is only temporary, I decided not to invest my hard earned (and sparse ) money and time on a fence. So, as I often have to lately, I improvised.

4 years ago I saw a super deal on a used dog kennel. A 4 paneled 6 foot high x 10 foot wide chain link dog kennel, including a swing door. Like this...

I didn't buy it for my dogs...there was no rhyme or reason, ( I can be dangerous at flea markets ) it was just such a damn good deal! I have a lot of friends with dogs and thought one of them could use it somewhere along their way. But no one ever did, so it just leaned against a shed from day 1.

Until I got busy yesterday and *made* a yard! The panel with the door started from the front side of the trailer, went out 10 feet, and the other 3 went down the side and I *borrowed* a gate to close it off on the opposite side at the back. Within a couple of days I hope to use the lumber I have and build a 10 foot panel along the back and that will gain an extra 120 square feet. Sweet!

Before this the dogs had to go round back of our sardine can and into a penned off kennel behind the house whose driveway we are parked in. ( wow, that was quite a run on sentence! I'm not fixing it though, because I'm lazy like that )

The best part about this new yard, according to the dogs, is that they can come and go at will. The door to inside is always open when they are out..

Look at what I can do...I can go out, and I can go in when I want!

Or at least till it's wicked cold outdoors again. The second best part for all of us, and I think I can speak for the dogs this time, is that I too have room to sit out with them! I have already put my small table and chair out there under a small Maple tree.

But, it's still basically a dog yard, which means grass will never grow. So I figure about 6-8 bags of white wood shavings like this ( 8 cubic feet per )

and it will be great! The only down side to the shavings is that the dogs track it in. But, it's easier to clean than the mud and dust they would track in without it. This amount of shavings will make it about six inches high, the yard will never be muddy and it's soft enough for the dogs to pick out spots to snooze in, if they wish to.

I had the same height amount in the pen, cleaned it as they pooped and once a month would take out an inch of the shavings and throw them in the compost next door. When it got down to two inches I raked it up and replaced it with another fresh 6 inches; it's the perfect solution to a very small yard with the huge potential for a mud wallow.

It's a small yard, but it's our yard.

Oh Hi Henry!

I hope everyone enjoys today! I'll be spending it revamping this blog...it's just a wee bit cluttered, and it's something I enjoy doing. See ya's!

And then there was bliss…

2011-05-23T23:19:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, May 18th 2011. That’s the day the world got lucky.

Logan Roop was born to Kelly and Sumeet.

I left my home at 7 a.m. to drive the 2 hours to make the scheduled birth at 11…giving myself an extra 2 hours for road delays.

No clogged traffic through the mountains!

Still okay past the mountains. Nice sunshiny day!

Yikes, I’m glad I’m not heading east! Look at those poor saps to the left! Lots of folks heading out of the concrete jungle of Vancouver for the May long weekend.

‘Bout an hour away, blasting Bob Marley, smilingsmilingsmiling…

EEEEEK!!!! Just over the top of the hill…gawddamn people heading to the island taking up my road space and time….get the f**k outta’ my way!!!

K, it’s all cool. I get there by 10:00. Plenty of time to spare. I go to the Labour floor, tell the nurses I’m there and to let my son know. Whew! I am shown the waiting room, walk in and begin to get anxious. I do a LOT of this:

looking out the window

and looking at the ceiling

and door eye-balling

and LOTS of clock-watching

and more and more and more door-watching

And then, the skies parted, the world stopped revolving, all the people and animals in the world stood still and held their breath.

Welcome Logan, happy birth day! Get ready for the time of your life!Your Grandma loves you! *perma smiling*

I'd like to grow very old as slowly as possible.

2011-04-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

Charles Lamb said that. He was an English gentleman poet and a loyal brother to his sister, both of whom suffered from bouts of Melancholia. What a pretty word for depression.

It dawned on me about 2 years ago that if I fracture a bone, it will take me much much longer to heal than just 10 years ago. Once that sunk in, well hell, it freaked the crap outta’ me.

I remember the olden days ( did I just say that out loud?? ) when I was as nimble as a Gazelle.

As agile as a Cougar

And as sure footed, err, sure tailed as a spider monkey

Okay. Maybe not. Maybe I was never as nimble, agile and sure footed/tailed as I think I use to be. Whatever.

I remember leaping up onto counters to clean the top shelf, and bouncing down BOING! when finished. Now I seek out the step-stool and configure the whole procedure like an expert mountain climber.

I warily peer up at the top shelf, look down with trepidation at the step stool, and begin to formulate a master plan. Because, hey, people have been known to fall off 2 foot step stools and die.

Then I make a tea. And say out loud to myself in my bestest Scarlett voice, I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow. The dogs then look at me and sneer.

I bravely hike the 2 steps to the top of the stool ( hey, a person could fall off a step stool and break their necks and die you know! ) , tightly grab hold of the corner of the cabinet and gingerly pull myself up so I’m standing on the counter. All the while planning how and where to place my poor aged body ~~when~~ if I fall.

Finished with the hated chore, I look down and face the 128 million miles to the floor. I contort my body and stretch my leg out to meet the top step. All the while saying to myself * careful, c a r e f u l, c a a a a r e f u u u u l.

And then I party and make myself another tea.

Because I'd like to grow very old as slowly as possible.

Know why? Because my first grandbaby is going to make his/her entrance in a couple of months…here’s the latest portrait of our wee perfect and precious darlin’

Bill Robinson and his Camp Defiance

2011-03-18T13:04:00.001-07:00

Bill Robinson. He was a miner, a trapper, a carpenter….well more than a simple carpenter, I guess an engineer of sorts, because he planned his home, and built it, fisherman,gardener and a fellow creature of all things nature.

I have searched and searched, dug through web archives and physical archives and have only a small bit of the man’s life. And that bit only tells of his existence at 22 Mile.

21 Mile is a point that is literally, 21 miles from Hope. That is where Bill Robinson carved a homestead out of the forest right smack dab beside the Sumallo River. The Sumallo winds alongside the Crowsnest Hwy and is quite beautiful all on its own. The river is many miles long, but resembles a creek as it is on average 12 feet across and has many bends and turns in it. It is one of the many narrow rivers close by that are consistently being fished for it’s multitudes of Trout. Mmmmm, pan fried trout…

Bill Robinson named his homestead Camp Defiance. He built his cabin, a second smaller cabin and a cook house/storage shed, all from the forest around him.

A man after my heart.

I wonder what he thought when he realized that the Hope Princeton highway aka Crowsnest Hwy, aka #3 Hwy, was going to be built meters from his home in 1949. Here is a link with a bit of information, some very cool older photographs of Bill, his friends, his Camp Defiance and some beautiful watercolour paintings: Camp Defiance

I grabbed Kelsie and we drove up the highway to snag some photos and do some planning. When the snow is gone, and it’s a bit warmer we are going to cross the creek and go exploring on Bill’s old homestead. Maybe even camp there for a night or two!

After driving this highway hundreds of times, we noticed something neither of us had before. Was it the remnant of an old stone chimney, or a monument of sorts? I don’t know, but am determined to find out!

A few blocks from home we stopped on the banks of the Coquihalla River to suck in some of the sun straining through the clouds. It was a vast difference from the grey and pissy days we’ve had of late.

More heart rocks…

Don’t forget about the super duper Full Moon tomorrow night! And enjoy your weekend!

Me, Myself and I. Oh, and Weird.

2011-03-06T18:30:00.000-08:00

I was a cruel dog owner yesterday. I went for a walk without them.

Drove about 20 minutes and arrived at Cheam Lake Wetlands , the big wet spot in the photo below.

View Larger Map

Here is a link to a pdf listing the various birds and other wildlife that can be found there: Birds etc

Here's what was weird. I walked about a mile in all directions, and didn't see one effin' bird! Not a Junco, not a Jay......not even a crow for gawd's sake. How could that be?? It's a bird sanctuary! I did see the evidence of some busy Beaver though!

Look at this group of boulders

The biggest heart rock I've found!

And a panorama of the NE corner of the marsh. And a lesson to me...move my camera up to get the tops of the mountains too. doh.

As much as I covet my me time, I always feel wicked for leaving the dogs home. But, no canines allowed in this gorgeous place. Plus, hey, it was one of those rare times I could turn the volume control to the nth degree, swaying and rockin' to Stevie. Played this tune full blast all the way there:

and on the way home...damn, Jimmy plays a beautiful guitar: