Happy Halloween

Hey kids, I've got a vampy vampire lurking in my woodpile. Mess with the cordwood and she'll make all your undead dreams come true.

Thanks to Mona(modelling and make-up) and Dave for the photo.

Lost lake In The Fall

It's a pleasure to live so close to Lost Lake, and a brisk twenty minute walk in the sun can turn a frown upside down. These pics were taken yesterday, the 30th.

The nudie dock, without nudniks.

The lake was cold and very calm. I didn't see any trout breaking the surface.



Dead ferns covered in a delicate dusting of frost.

Highbush cranberries thawing in the warmish air.

Fir trees infested with various kinds of lichen.

Be My Guest

I had to renovate this 11' x 7' bedroom in my house last month, so for a lark I took before and after pics like they do in those home renovation shows on cable. I repeated the angles as close as possible.


Notice the window sill colour. That took about 10 hours of scraping, sanding and staining to restore.


The wood planer Dave got me for xmas last year came in handy to make the base moulding.

Mushroom Invasion

Intermittant warm and very wet weather throughout this year has created a population explosion of wild mushrooms all over the Sea to Sky corridor. Mona tells me there are 120 varieties of 'shrooms that can be found in Whistler alone (that's her finger pointing at the gelatinous one and her pics below).

African Bears

Better late than never, I meant to post this last April when I received these Africa elephant photos taken by Dave's dad Jon via email. They are incredible pics, Jon!

Emerald Drive, The Scenic Tour

This is for Dave's Dad, who visited us very recently and loves to see the season unfold in my part of North America. I took a camera on my walk to the rural post boxes and back.



Two views of Armchair mountain for comparison, taken a few days and half a kilometre apart.

One neighbour has crocuses blooming in their yard, something that only happens in March and not October. The poor things don't stand a chance in the night.



Another neighbour has a wild apple tree growing on the road. It is actually illegal to have fruit bearing trees on your property in Whistler (attracts bears). I picked a few stragglers for Mona, who is vegan. Can't get more organic than this.



The neighbourhood trees turning red, if only for a few weeks.

What a pleasant thing to hang on your front step.

The Homestead.

The $10 metal star that covers a bare electrical box on the front of the homestead.

Me noticing the hundreds of pine cones scattered around the yard, leftovers from last night's rainstorm.

If left there, they'll freeze into little missles that plug up the snowblower and break an auger or axel... or Dave could accidentally suck one through the snowblower and shoot it towards the house and break a window. I've got to start raking.

All in the Family

Me, Jon and Dave at YVR sending Jon back to South Africa after visiting us for two weeks (which is partly why I haven't been blogging as of late. I also had to renovate a room and start collecting firewood at the same time).

The fishing rods Jon had to leave behind because it was considered as one out of the two pieces of cargo luggage allowed on the airline. I hope to have an opportunity to personally return them to SA very soon :-)

Artisan crafted pewter salad servers from Jon and Jill, a belated wedding gift of sorts.

These bananas finally ripened the day after Jon left, which we ate green two days before at an authentic african curry dinner at home.

Tacky Knives, Dressew, and Homelessness in Vancouver

The post title pretty much sums it up. I'm so not used to seeing myself in this many blog posts.

Firewood Season 2007

The fall monsoon rains swell the rivers and embankments in an impressive way. This is the dam overflow for the hydro electric generator plant in Soo Valley.

The river where excess water from the dam drains into.

The same spot Dave and I harvest firewood for three years going, about ten kilometres past the dam.

My view of Dave as I finish chaining another log(s), climb back to the road, grab the truck winch cable and hook it to my chain.

A self-portrait... though it would be a good idea to take one before I get fu#*ing filthy from head to toe out here. I'm also modelling my new ear muffs, a gift from Dave. They bring everything audible down to 29 decibels.

Two logs skidded together, a yellow cedar and a fir.

The other end chained by yours truly.

I prefer to peel off bark when possible, and the cedar was mercifully easy to do.



I often come across one lone tree standing in the middle of a modern logging slash (modern meaning 20 years old or less). I know from my Dad, who was a logger, that spar trees were used to secure cables for hauling and stacking cut logs... except that was over 30 years ago and modern machinery has made the spar tree obsolete. I can only guess this is either in homage to the old way of doing things or a silly joke to leave this last tree behind. Anyway, dusk is falling fast and it's time to pack up.

Another 3/4 cord of wood, previously discarded by the logging industry, for us and a slightly cleaner logging slash for nature to reclaim for herself.