We were away when it happened. The first freeze. Half an inch of frost in the morning, I've been told.
We came back Saturday afternoon to find the dahlias and begonias black and withered. The marigolds dead, and most other annuals ready for the compost pile. The house was slow to warm up, even with a blazing fire.
Surprisingly the sunshine today made this a shirt sleeve afternoon; (a long sleeved shirt of course.) But tonight we're expecting it down to -2 again. Here's a view of the back of the house as the sun sinks low over the mountains at 3:30.
Marit's got busy this morning, cleaning the casualties out of her garden.
She's been busy all week. In Vancouver she was racing between the dentist and the hair dresser. She barely managed to complete the targeted shopping expeditions. I'm the villain; I wasn't willing to stay longer in the big city for her to get together with many of her friends. Sorry ladies, you'll have to come and visit here again.
My primary reason for the trip was to attend a retirement luncheon for my old friend and manager, Gord Pope. It was an interesting occasion, seeing all the old co-workers from a few years ago.
My other project there was the installation of a floor in my daughter's home office; a laminated "floating floor" from Ikea. By Friday evening it was done, and looking good. We left the next morning. (Lise, I'll be back later to install the molding, after you select it.)
Back home, a few spots of beauty and attraction stood revealed in the garden after the summer foliage disappeared. Like this Callicarpa. One of out intentions in the landscape is to include more plants that provide an attractive setting after summer has left this hemisphere.
And frost hadn't harmed the lawn. I found it necessary to get out the lawn mower for (I hope) the last time.
For the nature lovers: This morning on the beach I came upon a flock of pine siskin, on shore. Normally these are in trees feeding on seeds and insects. But they were down on the rocks, eating seaweed; A variety called enteromorpha. They weren't after insects , they were tugging on of pieces of weed and eating it. I wonder if the Audubon Society knows of this behavior.
And our local flock of feral guinea fowl has a new member; some kind of exotic quail. It must be intelligent; it seems to be aware that the only way it'll survive the marauding hawks here is amid the protection of these big cousins.
Once again, Gord, congratulations on your retirement. I hope you find your retirement years as enjoyable and rewarding as I have found mine.
Week ending Nov. 9, 2003
They must have great memories!
Shortly before noon today, the bird feeders were finally filled with seed and set out for the birds to find. Then after quickly sowing some arbutus seeds along the back fence I went in for lunch. The birds were eating before I was.
They must have been watching and waiting. Juncos came immediately, along with a song sparrow and a rufous-sided towhee. (The juncos are the "Oregon" form of the dark-eyed junco). I could swear they were looking at me and saying "What kept you? It's been cold!"
Yes, it has been cold all week. There's been records broken all over BC. I don't know if we set records this early on Denman, but it was down to -5 degrees centigrade. The picture above was taken at daybreak last Tuesday. (Trust me, it was frosty!)
Surprisingly, later in the day with frost in the shadows even though the temperature had risen to +6, a bumblebee still made its rounds among our heather blossoms. It must be gathering all the stores it can muster for a long cold winter coming up.
There's a lot of activity on the island. This weekend there has been a two day workshop on basket weaving with natural materials. Here's Marit and her friend Jan, finishing up their creations in the Old School. After two days of this, her fingers are incredibly sore. (That's in addition to the painful tendonitis in her arm. Such a wreck; if she was a car I'd trade her in now.) She's learned a lot, and now has plans for all the waste material, stems and foliage, from annual prunings or fall cleanups.
The Old School incidentally is an old two room schoolhouse that was turned over to the community when the new public school was completed ten years ago. That's the old chalk board just behind Marit and Jan.
Her new loom has arrived. John Millen helped deliver it and set it up. Suddenly the guest room is not such a spacious suite. Our apologies to future guests.
Unfortunately our activities conflicted this weekend. I chose the Waterfowl Workshop on Saturday. And the monthly waterfowl census was conducted today. One car, even on this tiny island, is often not enough.
On the water, the long-tailed ducks have arrived. A lot of surf scoters, and hundreds of white winged scoters were along the east side of the island where we do the count.
Back home, as I and the juncos ate lunch, a flock of about 40 Canada Geese swam up to the shore as if to say "Where's ours?", (No, I don't feed the beach birds during the winter).
Week ending Nov. 16, 2003
With rain storms coming one after another, it's normal to find water flowing. Unless its on the floor, coming from under the washing machine.
Nothing serious. I've learned that when some higher force in the universe wants to tease me, it does so with some water problem. That's why, when I built this house, I had a cement floor with a drain installed in the laundry room. (Its surprising how much stuff we found hidden behind the machine when we pulled it away from the wall.) After re-clamping the drain hose, its good as new. I think! We haven't tried using it yet.
Don't be fooled by the pictures; its been raining. But early this afternoon the clouds dissipated for a couple hours.
The picture above shows the extension that I manicured for an extension of Marit's cutting garden. I hope she's planning on a hedge for this far end, because I'm now developing the area next to it as a parking lot; for my boat and trailer.
Occasionally I've been grumbling about the guinea fowl. I snapped this picture of them a few hours ago in the yard directly across the street. There were four more to the side. These are quite large birds, bigger than a chicken. And they can make quite a mess of an area that is to their liking. I've made it clear to them, many times, they are not welcome inside my fence line.
In earlier reports I described the preparation for and the move of a house by barge onto the island. It had been positioned in place, and last Wednesday the structure was slowly lowered onto its foundation and snugly abutted to the original dwelling on the property.
After the three trucks with their hydraulics, winches, and blocking supplies disappeared up the driveway, this is the result. There's still a lot of work for the owners to properly wed these two buildings into a single home. But the major hurdles have been completed with only one cracked drywall.
And the foundations FIT!
And finally, congratulations to the Edmonton Eskimos; Grey Cup champions of the Canadian Football League.
Week ending Nov. 23, 2003
Our highlight this week was a visit by my son. Erik is taking a weeklong retreat from the big city of Toronto. And he spent a few of those days with us on Denman.
Marit took this very unflattering picture of us one evening as we played a game of crib. I was being skunked; does it show?
The weather was not the greatest for his visit, but at least it didn't snow. The frost was quite thick on the -4 degree mornings, but the wood fire warmed the house up quite quickly.
When conditions were dry and warm enough, we started a project. The stairs to the beach need a hand railing. The steps are quite steep towards the bottom and with the falling debris and rain they get quite slippery. Twice in the past I've had a nasty tumble, bouncing to the very bottom. Its a little disconcerting laying on the rocky beach and wondering "How much damage did I do to myself this time?" as I slowly explore which parts of my body still function.
With Erik's assistance, we figured out a way to attach some sturdy rail posts. Now I have to get a couple of good 10 foot pieces of 2x3 lumber, sand them to eliminate slivers, and I'll have a safe path to the shoreline.
Incidentally, this is what the beach looks like this time of the year. The tide is constantly high in the daylight hours. Only at night is the tide low enough to reach the oysters and the clam beds.
This is perfect weather for indoor projects, and Marit is having a great time with her new loom.This is a picture of her last night with her current project. She can weave and watch the Canuck hockey game without distraction.
On Saturday morning, I attended a community workshop at the Old School on "Building Birdhouses". At the end of the workshop, I not only had another birdhouse to erect on the property, I also had my interest in building them rekindled.
So now I'm eager to flood the property with nest boxes; as soon as I clean off my garage-workshop area, and find my tools, and sort out the accumulated wood scraps...
Hmmm..maybe I should insulate the garage, and put some heat in there. It gets pretty cold...
Week ending Nov. 30, 2003
The morning after the storm.
Earlier this week a major storm swept into southern B.C. with strong winds and heavy rain. In Vancouver it was rated as one of the rainiest days in recorded weather history. (I think it finally ranked number 7). Here on Denman, I didn't think it was as bad as some of the storms of last winter.
In the middle of the night, the wind managed to find a tree to push over onto the power lines. But electricity was restored by 8:30 the next morning. My generator didn't get much exercise; just enough to make the morning coffee and let me check my e-mail. The rain quit by early morning too. I guess a lot came down, but the excess just ran down the rocks and diluted the sea water.
During the more decent days this week, I finished the railing down to the beach. It's needed too. The frost makes those steps very slippery in the mornings.
And that's all the carpentry I've done this week. No bird houses. (But I did start to clear the garage).
The beach is changing. The high winter tides combined with the strong winds are natures way of redecorating the beach. (It reminds me of Marit shuffling the furniture twice a year in the living room.) But so far it hasn't moved that big stump that it deposited last year at the base of my stairs.
As the sun started to set this afternoon, I took this photo to show where I've been spending my time. This area next to Marit's cutting garden is has been leveled, and is in the process of being turned into a parking lot. Yes, this uncultivated area of wild flowers and grasses (a.k.a. weeds) is about to be smothered in bark mulch and serve as a place to put my boat and trailer. That's progress! (And I think the neighbours are tired of seeing it on the roadside).
Hey, its only bark mulch, not asphalt. Really, I am passionate about the natural world. In fact I feel so strongly about preserving wilderness that I want to ask all of you who read this to participate in helping to save the rain forests.
Please, follow and bookmark this link:
Week ending Dec.7, 2003
The weekend of the Denman Island Annual Christmas Craft Fair.
This is not merely some quaint amusing neighbourhood gathering. THIS IS A BIG DEAL! Our two large halls are filled with booths featuring the wares of our local craftsmen. Not only are the talents of Denman Islanders featured; craftsmen from nighbouring communities have recognized this as a premier event and have participated as well.
In this top picture is the booth of Hanne Christensen, one of our friends on the island. She is a very talented pottery maker, and we have many of her creations in our home. Unfortunately Hanne is almost completely hidden behind her products. (You'll have to click on the picture and enlarge it to see her peeking over her top shelf).
This second image shows Fireweed with her medical ointments made from wild plants on the island, and her greeting cards featuring her excellent photography. (I don't know if Fireweed has any other name; that's the only way she's known on the island).
During the past two days, many hundreds of people have walked aboard the ferry and hiked up the hill to attend the fair in the two community centres. Fortunately the ferry maintained full service during the weekend. But that will not be the case starting tomorrow morning.
The ferry workers throughout the entire coast have been forced to issue strike notice; not because they are demanding more money, but because their employer is attempting to claw back many of the benefits and favourable working conditions that have been awarded the workers in the past. (Does my bias show?) We don't know yet how severely the strike will affect our access on and off Denman. But it certainly will disrupt the Christmas visiting.
Back on the home front, I've had a truck load of bark mulch delivered; about 12 cubic yards. After spreading a thick layer over the intended area, this is the amount that was left on the side of the road. I've spent a couple of days building a mini-mountain, wheelbarrowing it into the yard.
The image is very dark because it has been quite cloudy and stormy all week; winds and rain. That's changing, and it looks like frost in the morning for the rest of next week.
Tonight its dark; we can't even see any lights across the water at Buckley Bay. And the fog horns have been sounding, which could indicate the cause.
Week ending Dec.14, 2003
Such a week!
The ferry strike. Last week, for those in other parts of the world who are not aware, the union began limited job action, but friction between the company and the union quickly escalated to "essential service" only. Further company objection to the crew makeup caused many of these essential services to be missed. And government attempts to order restoration of service, quickly inflamed the situation and caused the total shutdown of the ferry system; all coastal ferries, including the little one to Denman Island.
Here on Denman, the situation was not as bad as I had expected. The local store quickly chartered a boat to bring in supplies and the mail. So the perishables that were quickly sold out were regularly replenished. And a water taxi service was established so foot passengers could get across the water. Finally, at the end of the week, both parties accepted binding arbitration, and the strike was over. For now.
Unfortunately this stoppage occurred exactly when Marit had hoped to travel to Vancouver to visit with her many friends, and to do some Christmas shopping. Her trip had to be cancelled. Bad timing.
There has been a lot of debris in the water recently caused by exceptionally high tides. Not high enough to take away that stump at the bottom of my stairs though. The top left picture was taken 45 minutes after high tide this morning. There's not much beach during the winter daylight hours.
And on the right, a different view of my neighbourhood. The end of the road. Our house is 100 meters down this road, behind those trees on the right hand side. There's no reason for anyone except neighbours to drive down here. But its surprising how many tourists come slowly by, just looking around.
Towards the water, this is how our home appeared at sunset tonight. We put up the Christmas lights, and included a couple strings on the back for the passing boaters and ferry travelers. (Hey, I wasn't going to crawl up to the roof to string them; thats way too high).
Other activities this week? Well, when I tried to move the boat I discovered a flat tire on the trailer. So the wheel is off, ready to be taken to town for repair next week. The boat is still sitting on the roadside.
And the weather; thank goodness the forecast for frost was wrong. If it had been colder, we would have snow up to our shoulders. There's been a lot of rain.
One final interesting note: Earlier this spring, before the beginning of the invasion of Iraq, an astrologer Tim Stevens predicted from the charts that Saddam Hussien was "protected" during the period of invasion, and would not be captured before mid december. Spooky, isn't it? We better read his weekly column more carefully. Check it out (by clicking on his name).
And that's it for this week. The end of the road.
Week ending Dec.21, 2003
Christmas dinner; turkey with all the trimmings for all Denman Islanders. And its free!
This annual party at the community hall has become a tradition on Denman. Everyone is asked to provide their own plates and cutlery, and to bring either a desert or a salad to share with others. With a lot of volunteers and the support of local merchants, this occurs every year for all Denman residents.
At this moment, there is one very stuffed senior at his computer, wishing he could leave the keyboard and crawl into bed for a nap.
Earlier this week as I dropped my coffee and ran outside waving my arms, Marit called "You should take a picture". My thoughts were more about a pellet gun that a camera. A deer had walked down the driveway and stared in the window watching me eating my lunch. But it indignantly hopped back up the driveway in a stiff four-legged bounce, looking like it had invisible springs on each hoof.
And on Wednesday I forgot the camera again when the tree fallers finally showed up (after several months of requesting) to take down the dead maple trees beside the house. It was really quite exciting as the climber went up, first taking off all the limbs, and then cutting down each trunk in sections.
Only after it was all completed did I remember to take a picture showing the open space that now exists between the neighbour's house. (I re-built the fence that was crushed by the branches). We left the bottom 6 meters of the trees for the woodpeckers. They'll slowly rot over the years and provide a great source of insect food for the birds. (Its a good thing I have so much firewood or I wouldn't feel so generous).
Today was the annual Christmas bird count; in very unusual weather. No pouring rain, strong wind, freezing temperature, or heavy snow. It was quite pleasant; very unlike previous occasion. But strangely, even with great conditions, we didn't find any more birds than in previous inclement years. Our team scoured the east shore, and logged 35 species. Other teams did similar or better. But after scanning the combined tally, I had to come home and do a survey at my back yard feeders to include more species; a golden-crowned sparrow, and a fox sparrow.
Marit has been working very hard to prepare the home for Christmas. She has cleaned, baked, decorated, shopped, wrapped, and even trimmed the tree. I'm sure she's been exhausted. My notable contribution has been to stay out of her way.
If all preparations work as planned, Lise, Gary, Sara, and Erik will arrive here Wednesday afternoon. It should be a good Christmas.
The last picture, thanks to my good friend Fred Hawkins, is very appropriate for our home. But a white Christmas doesn't look very probable this year. (Remember, click on any picture to enlarge it.)
And to everyone, Merry Christmas. And please take a moment to quietly think about its meaning.
Week ending Dec.28, 2003
Merry Christmas everyone!
Once again the family gathered for Christmas on Denman Island. On Christmas Eve, Lise and Gary picked up Erik at the Vancouver airport and arrived in time for dinner. And after dinner, the traditional distribution of gifts from under the tree was done.
Sara was able to join us Christmas morning, flying into the Comox airport.
Marit provided two scrumptious feasts, keeping alive the traditions from both Norway and Canada. Christmas Eve dinner was a special cut of pork roast (loin, rib end, with rind attached). And for Christmas Day, roast turkey. Naturally, each of the feasts had all the appropriate trimmings.
Poor Marit. Her birthday is Christmas Eve (and she won't let me tell how many years she has achieved). In addition to doing all the preparation on her birthday, she also came down with a nasty head cold; an unwelcome gift passed on from me.
We also did not get the white Christmas that she remembers from Norway. The snow tried to come and almost made it. We could see on the local mountains that it ended about 200 meters above us. But there was lots of frost this morning.
With a roaring fire in the stove, the house was plenty warm. (But I won't mention which wimps thought the bedrooms were too cold and made me turn on the electric base-board heaters).
However it wasn't all eating and partying. They had to work for their dinner. With good teamwork, they made firewood out of some of my trees that were taken down last week. Cutting these logs by hand warms you twice.
On Saturday, they packed their bags and caught the 3:00 PM ferry from Nanaimo. Another Christmas has passed. (And according to the TV, they caught some snow when they arrived back in Port Moody).
In preparing this web site, I realized that all the pictures in my camera were of the six of us. So I'm risking making this site look like a family photo album and I'm including a few of them.
There has also been a realization throughout this Christmas, that inevitable changes are occurring. With mom's death last spring, this is the first year we haven't had a parent or grandparent to visit or call. For this branch of the family, the old patriarch is now sitting in front of his computer screen editing his thoughts.
The only other news to pass on is that the trumpeter swan population on the small marsh where I do census has increased to six as of last Tuesday.
As the year comes to a close, we wish everyone a Happy New Year, and sincerely hope that 2004 brings health, prosperity, and serenity to each of you.
For the diary of previous months, select the month below.