A Walk in the Woods!

An early morning walk up in the back  trail with Ajax this morning was a treat.  

Mr. Owl guards the trial entrance.

An amazing mushroom on the trail.

Jax checking things out.

Gypsy sits on her pedestal as usual, watching the activity from a distance!

Fall Colour!

Sure, Eastern Canada gets all the credit when it comes to exploring the fall colours, but occasionally we get a few sights on Bowen, despite the island being mostly evergreen.  On a walk today, we managed to see a few maple trees turning brilliant shades of yellow and orange; and also came across this grazing doe.

 Actually, we don't really even have to leave our property to see some nice fall colours - like this Barberry in all its fall spendour.

 And a little splash of colour as you enter the driveway!!

Earings

Chris made me this awesome earing hanger that sure beats your typical earing tree.  He started with an old frame, then attached plaster mesh wire and voila!!  I have my earings now hanging on the wall in the ensuite.  I love it!

Framed Earing Rack

AJAX - Stronger than Dirt!!!

He's 11 weeks now! 

When is dinner?

I have a friend to watch the Koi with me!

Ok I fell into the pond once already, I'll look from a distance now!

I'll just hang out here in the saw pit and watch you chop kindling!

I love this window seat I can sleep on!

Time for a rest! I love the grass.

Chris and Me and Getting Older!

Most recent picture.  Looking tired and older; fact of life I guess.

Suddenly being her age seemed great. She didn't have to look perfect. Hooray!  And think of all the senior discounts she had to look forward to, not to mention Canada Pension Plan.  Who cares if she wears gum boots instead of  heels - her feet hurt; and not only that, she is going to have a piece of cake when she wants, and she isn't going to go anywhere she doesn't feel like going anymore either. Bring on the Metamucil.
  "If you're still breathing you're ahead of the game," says Fannie Flagg,  and she's right. Life itself is something to look forward  to so lets enjoy every minute, wrinkles, weight, and all. 

An October Visit to the Garden

Fall is for sure upon us.  A stroll around the property yesterday confirmed that.   Starting with the prolific amount of mushrooms we have growing everywhere.  We have never had mushrooms like we have mushrooms this year!

Much at the back is evergreen, which means that we don;t really get any stunning fall colour; but some colour is better than none.

 Gypsy, of course, adds both colour and texture to the yard as she poses on the fence between a barberry bush and a grape vine.

 The Japanese maple at the front is changing daily, as you can see by the following 2 photos.

 

But what is most exciting is one of my Daphne bushes in the patio garden is blooming and has lots of buds about to open as well.

 Fall is great - despite the rain we have been having!

Tree Down

On the Friday before the Thanksgiving day long weekend we had a bit of a wind storm on Bowen and woke up to find a neigbour's dead hemlock tree on top of Chris's motorcycle shed.

 One of the branches was impaled through the roof.

Fortunately no other damage and the neighbours came with the chainsaw and cleaned it all away!  Chris was just glad his motorbike was not damaged and that the tree had not hit his workshop.

A Thanksgiving Day Bonfire!

 Burning season is back!!! Thanksgiving was such a beautiful, warm and sunny day, that we couldn't let the occasion go by without a neighbourhood bonfire!  A spontaneous one!

Chris got the fire ready, and I called some of the neighbours.

 

It was a beautiful day;  Ajax joined right in, loving up everyone and not afraid of the fire at all.

 

We had marshmallows to roast which was fun! (We don't really like them, but its fun to roast and it was a perfect bonfire for it).

All in all a fun thanksgiving day!!  We are thankful to have great neighbours to share with.

The Gift of a Visit

My dear long time friend Gwen found her way back to BC from the UK this fall.  First stop was Agassiz to visit her sister, then a bus trip to Vancouver where I picked her up.

Gwen's last trip out was 10 years ago and she had never been to Bowen until now!! The rain held off just long enough to enjoy just a wee bit of the ferry ride to Bowen .

For the most part the weather did not cooperate, but there were windows of sunshine that we took advantage of - like a trip to our beach at the bottom of the road.

A stroll on pebble beach at the Cape

So while we had rain everyday, we still had a wonderful visit, and enjoyed some cozy fireside chats!

Till next time!  Thanks for the visit Gwen!!!

Backyard Puppy!

Ajax seems to always manages to find a sunny spot on the grass!

AJAX at 9 Weeks

We can't believe that this little guy is only 9 weeks!  He has grown so much! 

 

 

He is getting 2 tubes a day of raw food which is comprised of chopped chicken, chopped bones, & veggies.  Plus he gets chicken feet to gnaw on and eat.  This is what the breeder had him on and we will keep him on this until 12 weeks, and then see how he is doing.  

We have not started any training with him yet, in part we had company, and in part we wanted to give him a couple of weeks to settle in to his new surroundings and also to observe his behaviour.  He does like to talk back to you when you say no!!  Training will start next week at 10 weeks. 

 

I'm On The Top Of The World.....

Looking out on creation!!!
This week we played tourist in our own backyard.  It was the first day in 2 weeks that the forecast was for sun all day so we had to jump at the chance to try out the Sea to Sky Gondola.  Because of the height and the views, there is no point going if the weather is not fine. 

Both Chris and his cousin Eve are vertigo victims but they both amazingly faced their fears of looking down and up, and agreed to go over the suspension bridge once on top of the rocks!

We had not done the gondola before, which is a new addition to the sea to sky highway, and Chris and I were both impressed. Just a few kilometers north of Shannon Falls, the Gondola lift and summit offers great view of the Stawamus Chief, the2nd largest granite monolith in the world.

In comparison to the Grouse Mountain Gondola, this one has it beat!  And the trails and view points of Howe Sound are amazing!!

An Apple By Any Other Name is Still an Apple

Apple season is here!  It won’t stick around for long, so we have been forced to stretch our creative cooking muscles and make sure that all the apples, from all 4 trees are being used.  Now this is a stretch for me, but fortunately Chris's cousin Eve was visiting from the UK and helped me with the project.

We managed to accomplish 3 apple "jobs".  First was simply peeling and freezing 6 large bags of Braeburns.  I will need to do at least another 10 bags as the tree is still full!   Next was apple sauce.  The smooth and crisp kind.  No sugar, no spice!!  Yummy!  We chopped, we stewed, and then we churned out all the peel to make 6 pints of sauce.  Can't wait to try out some pork recipes!!

 

My neighbour Sandy loaned me her dehydrator, so the next thing we did was make dried apples.  This was fun!!! There were several stackable trays in the dehydrator, so we were able to do Braeburns, Liberties,  Pippins and Delicious; some with cinnamon and some without.

These came out just the way we like them after 6 hours of drying.  For sure I am going to do more of these.   And perhaps invest in my own dehydrator!

 

 Happy Applefest; Happy Apply Harvest; Until next year!!