Christmas Day in Vancouver

Christmas Day in Vancouver with our Vancouver family - at Jericho Beach, not warm but glorious.  A treat!

Breakwater trio, with downtown Vancouver in the background

the gang - plus Candy, photographer

he can still lift both sisters, but for how long?

what a bunch!

Halloween 2016

A friendly Jack'O'lantern (by Rowan) watching over a convincing Professor McGonagall (Ellen)

water!

Nothing like having no running water for four days to have one appreciate it when it's back!  

Thank you thank you thank you to Chris for finding the huge leak just outside the basement door with water gushing into the basement, and to Mick for coming in all of his spare moments from the depths of the Brouse Lodge septic system to get us up and running again.  

When Doco dug down to the pipe to find the leak, he didn't recognize it as pipe.  Maybe some undersea creature?  So encrusted with rust and pebbles.  No doubt where the leak was, though!  Spewing water inches from the basement wall, but it could have been spewing anywhere along.  We think the pipe has likely been there for 100+ years.

Water spurting - you can imagine the look on Mick's face

Pipe somewhere under the crust 

Douglas set to, digging out the rest of the pipe to the shut-off valve for the house, just beyond the outdoor sink.  Two wet, cold, 7am mornings.  Some holiday!

In the course of repairing the house pipe, the water had to be turned off in front of the squirrel barn - and that valve broke!   Problem #2.  No water then to the clay house or to the garden tap (our bucket source) or to the fire hose.  Yikes.  More wet digging by Chris and Mick to get that valve replaced.  (Thanks to Silverton Building Supply for having one.)

So that we can perhaps know what's what when it's all covered up again …

In the hole-photo (below), the main line comes from top (angled from the right).  There is a "T" turn-off to the right just above the large tube. Then, from left-to-right the valves are: 

1. The large tap-valve in the tall, blue (looks white here), capped tube controls the line to the rest of the Bosun Ranch (no one needed to touch it!)   

2. The actually-green small tap-valve controls a small line that goes off toward bottom-left, to who-knows-where?  It 's broken, but is it on or is it off??  It could be useful to control a new stanchion in Mick's garden, but … ????  Plan is to replace it next dam-cleanout time and then see what gets wet!

3. The red-and-white tap-valve controls a bigger line to the garden, outhouse, ranch house, and orchard, with a branch off just below the valve to the clay house (smaller white pipe crossing on top).

Therefore, according to this upstream/downstream map, either the ranch-house valve (red-and-white) or the rest-of-ranch valve could be shut-off and the other would still have water (and did).

We had arrived on Tuesday night (Oct 4), Douglas and Molly and Ellen on Thursday night and we had water at 10 am Saturday morning - in time for Thanksgiving.  What luxury!

Mick has just been here today for finishing-up planning.  We have arranged to have Chris dig more out around all the valves, then make a box, to be covered by cedar logs so the valves can be accessed more easily when next needed!  Phew.

There is still more plumbing to finish up the job - when Mick has more moments - but we have enjoyed our past ten days of water.  As part of the restoring-to-order, Chris has rebuilt the basement door, which now works!  And he is about to make a flat entrance pad and a step up.  All much appreciated by those who frequent the basement several times a day!

Snow on the mountains

… but not yet on the ranch - still very green

Under Idaho Peak, the snow was halfway down the mountain - it had been falling as we drove Douglas, Molly, and Ellen to the plane the afternoon before:

New Denver - main street

Diana and I walked the Mori Trail, along below the New Denver main street and around Bigelow Bay: 

view west, across the Lake - tons of snow

view north, up the Lake - no snow

view south, down the Lake - half snow

One more day and much snow had melted.  Just the top of Idaho Peak was still white:

Even with no snow on the ranch, it is nippy.  The heat stove has been getting good use in the old ranch house, and Doco and I are snug.

Doco's view while reading Pliny

   For Thomson's 18th birthday, Doco gave him a promise that he would read all of his UBC Arts1 course materials, for discussion with him once a week when term began.  Quite a task!  So, Doco's assignment while at New Denver for Thanksgiving was to read several of Pliny-the-elder's "Books of Nature" (in translation).   This was Doco's view, from his comfy Watney reading-chair in the south bay-window of the old ranch house.  Much enjoyed!  The metal "woman" statue is a present to Doco from (and by) Rabi'a.  The birch stump has added the mushrooms.

Thanksgiving Monday walk

Thanksgiving Monday morning, while Douglas and Doco tried to sort the ranch water system in the fields, Chris offered to take Molly and Ellen to visit the horses at the 'stump ranch'.  I tagged along, on the woodsy trail past the first and second Bosun Lakes (the training route for the 10K Sufferfest run in July - Rachel and Eric plus four girls), then past the third Bosun Lake (Porter's Lake) to the horses' field.  

on the way … Molly's purple mushroom (her phone photo) 

… and these leaves were just like that

Cheyenne, Chicklet, Thunder, and Sparky (I think) ...

… enjoying 'discard' carrots from Mick's field

From the stump ranch, Chris led us up his trail, over 'the hump' to the west of the Bosun-Lakes trail.  It comes down 'Nancy's hill' into the 'far field'.  I had been once before with Chris, in reverse.  He has blazed the trail in part, but I still am not sure I wouldn't get us lost.  Maybe one more guided trip? 

looking south over the far field ...

… and looking north at the three troopers

Back to the ranch house for lunch, then off to Castlegar and the plane home for the three.  Sleeting as we drove down the valley.  Clouds and snow very low on the mountains around us.  But as we approached Castlegar, the clouds lifted and the plane got in and out.  Phew!  A lovely Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Sunday by Slocan Lake

Thanksgiving Sunday afternoon  - Douglas, Molly, Ellen (and Meo) at the Harris beach.  Gorgeous.  But no one was tempted to swim - even when I offered my fleece jacket as a towel.

two sisters on the rock ...

… then two sisters and a papa

luxury!

Then back up the old ranch road to a scrumptious turkey dinner - Tonio, Norbert, Julia, Rayan, Devon, Kay, Diana, Douglas, Molly, Ellen, Meo and Doco -  preceded by "Racing Demon" and followed by a rousing game of "Loot", four teams of two.

Thanksgiving harvest

For our Thanksgiving feast (and other feasts), we were given free reign to pluck beets, beans, and carrots from Mick and Ruth's plantings in the fenced field.  Ellen and Molly set to.   Then came the multiple muddy washings.

Molly at work on carrots.  Ellen spent about two hours washing beets and beet-tops (no photo).  All very yummy.  Leftovers filled the carry-on bags of the three returning home.

Thanksgiving views on the ranch

Some random photos from the ranch at Thanksgiving 2016:

First, the view from the kitchen window.  Uncle Steve had Tonio, Chris, and Ralph take out a load of logs in September, including the big old fir where the hole now is in the middle of this view.  With the spread of dead lower fir branches gone, the small maple and cherry trees shone.   Beautiful.

Molly, getting a closer-up photo of the vivid colours

Ellen, when not gazing out the window, using the WATER (see 'water!' posting)

Molly and Douglas hauling firewood up the old ranch road

100-year-old pear tree waiting for Douglas