Sunflower Sisters

 

This is the latest "coffee place" in Kaslo.  I wrote about going out for coffee last year and it was at this exact place in its previous incarnation.  This year, a couple of young Quebecoise women are running it (they are identical twins) and it has had a good upgrade,  to my mind.  The owners are providing coffee cups, plates, cutlery that are recycled from thrift stores or relatives and it gives it a good "green" vibe.  They are offering small quiches, pastries, muffins along with a variety of drinks - want to try a "beet latte"?   There are now more tables outside and it's been a popular place to stop.  My biggest concern is the location at the junction of Highway 3A and the main drag of Kaslo.  The motorcycles that go past that corner are alarming and annoying.  I frequently work at the community garden across the street and I know about the noise.  Not conducive to conversation.

BTW, I didn't become a coffee drinker in 2024.  It's a social thing to do and I like it.  I don't have time for it and after my winter diagnosis of further arrthymias I've basically cut caffeine out of my life.  But I think I'm okay for a beet latte!

Twenty Four Hour Holiday!

 We just came home from a 24 hour holiday today!  After having friends join us for tea in the afternoon (who had an excellent time at the Creston Birding Festival), we left in our camper van for Summit Lake Provinical Park, located part way between New Denver and Nakusp.   It was a very cool night and we didn't have much luck with birds, but there were a few around.  Very frequent heavy showers had discouraged some campers, but plenty of fishing folk partially filled the campground.  Birds sited were:  common mergansers, one pair of shovellers, a few bufflehead (one male surrounded by females), a bald eagle, a loon, and several Canada geese.  We tried out the new awning for the camper van and it seemed to work effectively.  I was able to read while outside, but it was too cool to stay out for long.

In the morning, we had another look around the campground for birds and then headed to Nakusp for a walk along the promenade and then up to the hot springs for a dip.  It's a small pairs of pools but it was quite lovely as the clouds began to dissipate and sun prevailed.  We visited the Heritage Nursery in Nakusp and bought a barberry for the Trail residence.  After lunch back at Summit Lake, we then headed towards New Denver, stopping for a walk at the Snk'mip Marsh.  Disappointingly, the birds we mostly observed were mallards, Canada geese, robins and fortunately, a lot of rough-winged swallows!    And the best place to visit of all, was the Kohan Garden in New Denver.  The photo shows why!

SPRING, 2025

 I feel that it's been a slow spring this year, but there are always delays to every season during the past 2 decades.  We had a week of spring in late February when it poured rain and ruined the snow.  I'm going by the skunk cabbage, or as Patrick Lane called them,  swamp lanterns.  We have a large patch at the end of the Pine Ridge Road and they usually bloom the 2nd and 3rd weeks of April.  This year, it's been the third and fourth weeks of April.

Yesterday, we had our first warm day.  I had a lovely drive to Trail and many trees are in bloom.  Hiking up to the Bluffs, it was actually HOT on the exposed part of Trail that faces south.  One delightful thing in my yard was the nectarine tree in bloom.  The peas, onions, garlic, and sweet peas are all growing and the next planting should begin in another week.  Tulips that are protected from the deer are doing fine.  Very happy to see my Pasque flower has finally found a place to be happy.  

Earth Day 2025

 I just returned from an hour's litter picking along 1.3 km of roadside in my local area.  It's a mix of good news and bad news.  I managed to do each side of the road in 50 minutes but I am leaving all paper products, heavy items and I don't scramble in and out of ditches any longer.  I am feeling my age!!  Two and three years ago I know that it took me a couple of hours to complete that much of the road so the amount of litter is perhaps less.  The most encouraging thing is that I think I only picked up ONE styrofoam container.  But there's still tons of paper drink containers with their vile plastic lids.  Let me vote for a party who bans the use of "take out drink containers".  I don't think it would take long to convert people to "carry your own container" if there was no other choice.

I've been cleaning up cans on this stretch of road for the past several years.  I get started just after the snow leaves.  It was just as plentiful this year as any other.  In fact, it may even be worse.  I've converted Dave into becoming a "can picker" and I am dismayed to say that he picked up 140 cans on 2 sides of the highway over a 2.5 km stretch.  Litter bug, Litter bug, shame on you! 

BC Parks and Recreation Recreation Sites

 We've stayed in plenty of recreation sites over the years and last week, during our trip "west" to Keremeos we ended up at the Red Bridge Rec Site on the Ashanola River.  This is located on a FS Road that used to lead into Cathedral Provincial Park, a place we visited many, many years ago.  

This particular site is very nice, although its appeal is somewhat dampened by the huge fire that swept through the region 2 summers ago.  The campsite is now pretty much surrounded by dead trees, but the grass looked lush and inviting on our recent visit.  It allows the rock cliffs to be the major feature.   There had been some attempt to take down some trees and clean up parts of the campground, but lots of work still needs to be completed.  We had a fire in the firepit and managed to get one campsite looking quite good.  I wished that I had brought a rake!  

My main complaint about these sites is that they are "user maintained" which means the "user" is supposed to take their garbage and recyclables with them when they leave.  I find it rarely happens.  This campground had one site which had a large pile of garbage in it and perhaps the intention was to "clean it up in spring".  I do hope it gets done.  I collected 9 recyclable containers left in firepits because people won't even put these into their cars and give to a charity group who are fundraising.  The amount of litter that gets left around by humans is disgusting.  My other complaint about these sites is that they can become "party places" and it isn't long before they get pretty much "trashed" - literally and figuratively.  BC has such beauty - why can't we learn to treat that beauty with respect and kindness?

SWIWS

We just returned from a 4 night camping trip to the "West".  There was definitely a taste of spring.  After leaving Kaslo in midafternoon on a Thursday, we travelled as far as Greenwood to spend the night.  I found the trailhead for the ride to Midway from Greenwood (13 km) and was rather excited to see it - it is one section of the trail that we have not completed.  Alas, it was -3 when we woke up in the morning, but it was clear.  Travelling on to Osoyoos, we readily found a campsite at swiws provincial park, formerly known as Haynes Point.  It's a very nice park, actually, but is one of the most popular in the province and difficult to get into.  However, no reservations are accepted before mid-May so April was our opportunity.

It was excellent for bird-watching - there were hundreds of red-wing blackbirds who were busy showing off their red epaulettes in the marsh.  I picked out our campsite from the male wood duck who happened to be swimming by.  There were great globs of coots on the lake, and the next most popular birds were the buffleheads.  Mergansers were a close second.  My prize sighting was 2 red-necked grebes hanging out with the coots.  Saturday morning, we observed a very large and fierce looking bald eagle high in a tree and one of the early morning runners said this particular eagle lives a couple of "blocks" away on the lakeshore.

I'd definitely go back to swiws in the spring.  It was quiet - and we even had one full day without wind.  We did learn that wind can be a big factor in one's enjoyment of the park.  The park is located on that very narrow stretch of land that juts out into Osoyoos Lake.  

Spring is Springing!

Yesterday morning it did feel very much like spring.  We took ourselves off to Castlegar to discover Waldie Island, a former heronry on the Columbia River.  There's a good trail along this side of the river and our first stop was an elevated platform to observe the birds on the sewage lagoon!  There were tons of them, mostly ring-necked ducks and there were also enormous turtles laying on various logs - the sun was out but it was only about 5 degrees.  That did surprise me.

Other bird species we saw were:  teal, common goldeneye, mallards, buffleheads, common mergansers and we think, a female wood duck.  There was even a lone,  red-winged blackbird sitting in the remains of bullrushes.  

As we hiked along, we read well-worn signs about the area and in the early 2000s the location of Waldie Island in the Columbia River was a huge heronry.  However, since 2003 there have been very few pairs found at the Island.  It is a restricted area, but likely it was NOT restricted 20 plus years ago so the herons decided to leave because of all the human activity.   The walk is a good discovery for us because birds do seem to come there, at least in spring!  Here is the Island on a bright spring morning.