We continued our end-of-summer alpine hiking tradition as best we could this year. Instead of four or three of us female members of the family, we only had two of us. Sophie spent the summer train-hopping, road-tripping to the States, launching
Festivus
Erin arrived from China a week ago. She’d been there on tour with her orchestra and was on her way back to Montreal, by way of “home” in the Kootenays for a week or so. She had picked up a
Holidays 2011
There was no Christmas in this family. We went to my mom’s and ate her turkey. But other than that, no Christmas. We’re waiting for Erin to get back from China next week, when she’ll stop in for a week’s
Humbug
Look who joined the family yesterday! Since our old cat’s demise we’ve seen a steady climb in the rodent population hereabouts. So we’re thrilled to see Humbug stalking flies, developing her hunting instincts. Noah, a.k.a. Cat Boy, is completely smitten.
Beware of small bears
We had these two in our yard at least once today. Probably twice. A mama and a cub. A tiny, cute little cub. Standing up and peering around, curious about everything. We think our dog tangled with them this morning,
They’re growing up!
The chickens, that is. They’re a little over two months old now, our dozen Ameraucanas. We got them as fluffy little day-olds and have successfully grown them through their lanky pre-adolescent phase. They’re now feathering out resplendently and there’s such variety!
Nestlings
Ever kid should have a nest of baby birds to watch every year.
Bear stories
Last week it was beautiful and sunny and I decided to sneak in a quick afternoon run. I took the highway out towards the junction to the east of us. Typically this highway has only very light traffic, and it’s
Cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep
Our new batch of Ameracauna chicks arrived via the post office this morning. While we had had success breeding our own stock in the past, we lost all our chickens when we left the homestead undefended by both human and
Wolf
Only in a small town can a guy roll in on Monday, visit with a few friends, offer to do a talk on wolves and a visit with his own “pet” wolf, and get a full fifth of the community’s
Limpet’s update
It’s true I had a rocky first week. Had to go see the vet again, was admitted to hospital and watched overnight. Finally felt like eating again after 5 days, but that kibble I used to eat? Not what an
Sad yet miraculous story
Limpet, our dog, has a “thing” about the van. She gets very excited when we leave and loves chasing us. She doesn’t do this with other vehicles, not even Chuck’s truck, but she knows the kids and I are normally
The neighbour lambs
Our neighbours have a tiny homestead which comprises a huge veggie garden, dairy cattle, rabbits, turkeys, chickens (meat birds and layers), goats and sheep. The goats and cow have birthed already and we’re into a (late) lambing season now. Sometimes
Predatory near-tragedy
The seven hatched chicks, now heading into adolescence and standing 8 to 10 inches tall, were moved out to the chicken coop a week or so ago. They hunkered inside the henhouse at first, intimidated by the older generation. Overall
Girl and dog
We had sunshine a few times today. And snow up on the ridges. And rain here several times. And hail. At one well-timed moment, Fiona and the dog got out for a walk. Here they are heading up the driveway