More Adventures in Teslaland!

 This past Thursday we took a drive over to Nakusp to check out its beautiful gardens and to do a short hike near the town.  Both were very good.  We also had lunch at the Alpine Hut drive-in which is delightfully old-fashioned and relatively inexpensive.  I was able to find a lime smokebush at the Heritage Nursery and that was a good find, in my opinion.  I didn't know they were so "common".  Another task we hoped to accomplish in Nakusp was to try out the new Tesla charging station - the first fast charging station we've seen in any of the interior valleys outside of the Okanagan.  

When we got to the station I was unable to unplug the charger and there was a QR code on it that said "follow instructions".  Doing something with the phone did not help.  There was another fellow charging in this spot and we asked him about it and he'd never had to do that before, but he took a picture of the code and his Tesla seemed to accept it and released the charging cord.  That didn't happen for us.  As Dave was driving away from the station, I noticed the guy waving at me across the street.  His plan was to just give us the cord he used after he unplugged and we would charge.  It was a good plan but then his Tesla completely seemed to seize up and he couldn't get it to do anything.  Meanwhile, Dave walked down the line of chargers and found one that released the cord.  This guy had to reboot his car before it would respond and he could drive away.  He said it had never happened before.  Is there something spooky going on at the Nakusp fast charging station?  Or, is this just another adventure in Teslaland!!?

Garden Touring in Summer

 Kaslo had its annual garden tour yesterday and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.  The sun shone, but not too hotly, the wind did NOT blow wildly , and everyone's garden was in a perfect place of growth and beauty.  It's a tough job picking a 
"day" a few months prior to the tours.  Last year, we had it a week later and it was terribly hot.  That is one reason we moved to early July.  The time was also rearranged to avoid the heat - starting at 9 am until 2 pm - and that was a good move, but not necessary on this particular day.  We even supplied "misters" at various gardens but we didn't have to use them.  And in our area, the rains came, providing a lovely 10 mm the night before the tour.  

The food hub is trying to partner with the arts council with some success at this event.  This year, we had music and poetry at the community garden, painters "en plein air" in a couple of gardens and one spot where art materials were left out for people to "do their thing".  Some gardeners had paintings out in their gardens or attached to buildings.  One garden host had her paintings for sale and she sold two pieces of work.  Doctors Without Borders will be happy as she donates to this organization when she sells her work.  Another artist sold her first pieces of work.  We had various artists from Kaslo create our "garden tags" to indicate who had purchased a ticket and this was a unique and wonderful keepsake from this year's tour.  Next year we need to have the artists identified on the back of the tag.

 All in all, the tour was a complete success and my photo of one gardener's creative work even has me in the picture!  It was a very good way to raise money for our local food hub.