Fifty-two years!

Two idyllic settings (and one historic site) on opposite corners of our 'new' land.  First a Meo-and-Doco wedding anniversary walk up to the dam and beyond to the cedar swamp - damaged by the logging, but not ruined.  This part of the stream (Harris Creek) is my small-childhood ideal of a creek running through.  A lot of clear water rushing between the low mossy banks.

The 'historic site' is on the ridge above the cedar swamp to the south.  A 20-foot cedar snag, seriously burnt.  Cole figures it is one of the few remains of a spotty forest fire that must have burned through the ranch in about 1850-1860.

Then, idyll #2, at the eastern end of the Bosun Lake, the north-eastern tip of parcel 2411, the Fidelity Mine property that came to us in our ranch-land purchase last September.  At 4pm on a sunny June afternoon, after rain, it couldn't have been lovelier.  Doco and I have had some good 52nd anniversary explores.

P.S. As Teagan said at about age 7, "Doco, what's it like being married to Meo for all these years?"

Ready

Well, not totally.  Haven't swept the pileated woodpecker's wall-shavings out of the cathedral, nor assembled the bedding in the clay house, but doing better on the outside ...

Slocan Lake from Doco's 'orchard'

the 'Old Ranch House'

the hay barn, 'clay house', 'squirrel barn', chicken coop

the 'cathedral' and 'the secret place'

Doco's wee strawberry patch.  Can you spot the initial row?  Blueberries and grape-vines are surrounded. 

The weeding - a mammoth task.   Making place for transplanting some dozens of Chris' young lettuces.

My main garden task - Dianne Carter's raspberry jungle.  Doing well!  I am to try to tame them so that we can pick them.  Photo taken in the rain through the fence, but with a bit of a squint I think you can see red.  Quite delicious.  And one chicken looking for playmates (or maybe raspberries!).

RAIN

After a sweltering first three days that Cole and I were here (June 4-6), the rain came.  Two warm(!) Slocan-Lake swims - like mid-summer - then one frigid dip, and I've not been tempted since.   It rained and it rained and it rained.  A lot.  Cole says at least 6 inches.  

From the old ranch house we could see the rain storms coming up the lake - one after another.

More on the next day ...

And the next ...

The fields and the forests are sopping, but no one is complaining.  It's a great relief - however long - from forest-fire edginess.  As long as July 4th is fine for Doco's 80th birthday!

Thomson second in 1500m

 9am on a sunny May 12th morning at the UBC track for the Vancouver High School track meet.  With Douglas playing field hockey in Bordeaux France and Candy helping deliver babies, Doco and I were the family Thomson-rooters.  Thomson, having trained hard for field hockey but not track this year, pulled off a tremendous second-place in the senior boys' 1500m final.  A personal best by 4 seconds, 4:06.

admiring fans before the race

lap #1, Thomson in 3rd place

lap #2, Thomson still in 3rd

Coming up to the bell lap - Thomson passing Kieran (hidden), leader out of sight

winner (Thomas) just in, Thomson in sight

Thomson at the finish (across the line, he folded)

some admiring fans after the race

"Oh oh, meo's got me"

April at New Denver

Doco and I scrounged one April week to be at New Denver (April 16-23).  Not long, but very full and fun.  Here are some glimpses:

Day 1.  Ana is planning a wood-kiln workshop on May 1, so she and Christiane, with the "help" of Jeff and Chris, fired up the kiln to test many glaze combinations at cone 4.  Ana is cautious after last spring's firing at cone 6 when many of her large masks cracked.  At the lower temperature, with 2 hours of firing, she was pleased with the result.

So much productive effort on this ranch.  Here is Mick and Ruth's garlic crop, looking good.

This is new rooster #2, "Rusty", who crows in one corner of the yard while the much larger rooster #1, "Tiny" (from Ralph)  crows in another … and attacks Rusty for paying attention to "his" hens.

Chris was removing compost from the chicken run, but the chickens gobbled so many worms he needed to shoo them off - and eventually fence them out till he was done.  See "Tiny" in the rear, keeping an eye on his hens.

April is when we catch the jonquils blooming on the bank below the ancient pear tree ...

… and the yellow plums.  The tree is noisy with all manner of bees.  Anyone here in mid-August will likely be put to work!

Doco's week has been mostly consumed by his booklets - two new ones in his "Slocan History Series", one on the town of New Denver (buildings and people) between 1891 and 1901, the other on Slocan newspapers in the 1890's.  Still, a bit of time-out for weeding.  Oh, and walks and visits.

Several scrambles up into our vast, newly-acquired (last fall), logged-over portion of the Ranch.  Chris knows the elk trails all through it.  This evening, he, Cole and I went to find the deep hole at the Fidelity mine site at the north end.  The land is collapsing down into the workings of the mine.  Dangerous! (photo to follow on our next visit - but, maybe not, because Doco has reminded me that he has asked Ralph to fill it in.)  My one photo, on our way back down, is from a promontory we'd never been to before.  Lots to explore!

Fairyland, on the edge

Yesterday, as Kay, Mary Barnett and I walked down the Galena Trail, Kay spotted a "ladyslipper" (Calypso orchid) right on the edge of the path.  Since a child, I have considered them rare treasure and was more than a bit pleased.  "Oh", says Kay, "I know where there are LOTS."  Could that be?  "It's on a woodsy trail, on the edge, high above Carpenter Creek, below the Old Sandon Road.  I'll take you there tomorrow."  So, today we walked up the Old Sandon Road for maybe a kilometre to a small trail that slants off the road, parallel to the creek.  On the very edge of the constantly cutting-away bank, it winds along through the evergreens and moss and, in April, ladyslippers.  For half a kilometre it must be their perfect habitat because, as Kay promised, there were lots!  A fairyland.  

Beauties!

… more and more ...

… with "Echo" as accidental background.

To try to get some sense of our precarious position, I took a photo of Kay and Echo on the undercut bank( but with sturdy trees beside).  I skipped photos of the treasures on the very edge.

Mostly you see them only when you look right at them.
 I would guess we saw a hundred along this little path, all  with pinkish-purplish tops ...

… except, for geneticists, one white one.

Eight kids! - count 'em

Norbert, Julia and boys headed to the coast for the spring break.  When they left, they had three goats.  When they returned, they had eleven!  Two sets of triplets (to Xiao-Xiao and Yo-Yo) and one set of twins (to Vicki).  The neighbour's visiting daughter became the unexpecting midwife (and gave them all names).  Four boys, four girls.  All fine at three weeks, and such glorious colour patterns!   All different, but it's still hard to keep track of who's who.  Fortunately, their mothers seem to know.

"St. Patrick" and "Yo-Yo", framed

"Emerald"?

Ready for grazing, willful Vicki as lead goat

a perky bunch, already very keen to trot along behind Norbert

seems to be good stuff in the road