brother and sister

Rather  a fine photo of Doco and Aunt Susie, taken just now by Janet at Wiltshire Street.

Blossoms ... but bees?

The backyard fruit tree blossom has been magical, but there's not much buzzing.  Will there be fruit to follow?

Cherries.
Our "found"cherry, from Joanne via Candy, couldn't have had more bloom.  Last year it had about 4 cherries.  This year I think it had about 4 bees, but I guess we (or whoever is here in mid-late July?) will see.

Apples.
Lots for the bees to chose among.  Hopefully they snuck about when I wasn't looking.

"Red-free" espaliered apple from the 2002 UBC Apple Fair

"Belle de Boscoop" - for all-winter yummy apple desserts - from the 1991 UBC Apple Fair

As for the wood anemone splendour, the flowers do it all, bees not required.

And this from Diana's and my Kerrisdale walk … evidence of a flowering-cherry "snowstorm" outside Starbuck's … my camera couldn't catch the flying petals (even I can't see them).

Lesson.  We need to find and re-instate our Mason-bee houses.

Jericho Beach on a sunny April afternoon

No crab fishers on the pier today.  Fishing is closed after last-week's oil spill from an anchored tanker - one of these?  No sign of oil, though - not on the water and not on this shore.

The wind blew hard and the sail-surfers flew fast!

The mast cables jingled like wind chimes against the masts of the hundreds of grounded sail-boats.  Diana thought the boats sounded restless to get out to sea.

Vancouver City sat there beyond the waves like a painting.

English daisies filled the Jericho Park grass.  Same as in Jericho, Oxford?

A red-wing blackbird whistled behind us on the bridge - lots of yummy grain on the bridge deck.

Ducks in full mating display.  Mostly shiny-green-headed mallards ...

… but not all … one wood-duck and one something, bottoms up ...

… and the bunnies are back.  Or maybe they never left?

Sand is on the move.  The cherry tree seems content, but firefighters will have some digging to do ...

April on the Ranch

April 6th, greeted by the snow-shoveller's annual carving up of the lawn.  Doco decided this year to hire Ralph to put it back together as best he could, and then Rayan to add top-soil and grass seed.  We'll see what it does by our return in mid-May.

The restored "squirrel barn" looking glorious, rather like a bird … in spring you can see Chris's foundation rock-work … and Doco's windows (two done, one to come)!

A line from me to Doco to the corner fence-post (behind his head) is the approximate western boundary of lot #1799.

a sturdy tree fort, waiting for its inhabitants

Doco's rescue of 6 rejected (by our fruit tree workshop leader) "Romance" cherry-tree whips …  a new variety developed in Saskatchewan by a mad scientist … I'm doubtful that they will survive, but who knows?

Doco and Ralph planting Linda Edwards' orphan oak tree … we HOPE it's in the right spot!
... as Doco says, "it can always be cut down"!

April 13th and we're off, back to Vancouver.

April in New Denver

A few semi-random photos around New Denver in April 2015.

the Raven's Nest on Main Street

the emerging Valhalla Pure store, from Main Street ...

… and from the highway corner 

Kay and Echo in the lovely late-day light on the cliff-edge in front of her house
 at the top of New Denver

Practicuum for our organic Fruit Tree workshop - temporary plantings behind Knox Hall ...

… some are diggers ...

… and all learned a lot.  Now how will our trees fare? 

Elk in the field

Last night at supper with Chris at the clay house, we saw at least 12 elk emerge onto the field from the logging swath.  They came right up to the fence, but they are timid creatures and my camera was back at the ranch house.  I crept out the back door and quietly down the road, but they were spooked.  By the time I was back they were well up the field, so my photos are in dim light at maximum zoom.  These creatures are big!  At close to dark, three were well on their way along the ridge toward the hay barn (which Chris says they broke into in winter).

seen from upstairs in the clay house, 7pm

also from the clay house, 8pm, getting dusky … with two white-tailed deer for scale

New kids

A visit last evening to Vicky's 4-day-old triplets, two girls and one boy.  The "Z" family.  How marvellous.  All three have variations of their mother's colouring.  They have been handled by all the Duerichens from birth and are very calm.  Doco says I need to choose three photos, but how?  Here are seven.

Rayan with kid#1

As Norbert says, they all have such a drive to be "king-of-the-castle" - at 4 days old!

… kid #2 is "king" for a moment ...

… I forget if this "king" is kid #2 or #3.  Can you tell?

… "my turn next" ...

… "well, maybe we can all have a go"

meanwhile, mama gets her supper

Mountain bluebirds

A treat this afternoon.  Doco and I were walking home across the field below Aunt Heather's tree and I caught a flash of blue.  A pair of "mountain bluebirds" - birds neither of us has seen on the ranch for some decades, and maybe my favourites (next to chickadees).  Out with my camera.  Bluebirds are flycatchers, so sit obligingly on fence posts.  These photos are nothing like those on Alistair Fraser's Kootenay Lake blog, but I am thrilled with them.  And I dare you to say "mum, where is the bird?"

blue on blue - Slocan Lake behind

this photo composed itself ...

… and this one, as if he is posed against the maple just coming into leaf

The female is hardly blue at all, so didn't get her picture taken.  Hmm …

Hay barn ready

Since Doco and I left New Denver last October, Norbert and Rayan have finished the shed-roof on the hay barn.  It looks splendid.  From inside one can still see daylight, but hopefully we can see around corners better than the raindrops can.  So, we presume it is once more out of the weather and ready for sleepers, card-players, readers, spies? - a lovely spot.  Likely to be much contested!  But I think that Rachel, as creator and inhabitant of this living space for many summers (until there were TWO cherubs and the drips won out), gets first pick.

Doco removing the last of the roofing rubble ...

… and pleased with the result

Next project - a new shake roof on the south-side shed.  Rayan and his pal Viktors are well along with the shake-splitting for that job.  Then there's the steep bit!  Who did it the last time?  Not still around, or over 70, I guess?  Any takers?