Walking In Woods On A Snowy Evening

Yesterday was the day that the Kaslo Trail Blazers "light up" the trail bridge across the Kaslo River. It gets dark early here so at about 4 - 4:30 p.m. we parade along the river trail with a lantern, happily made by a 2008 grade 3 student! At 5 p.m., the Christmas lights which have been strung along the roof of the bridge are put into operation - it is really quite lovely. This year, we'd had a good snowfall with relatively cool temperatures, to make our snow light and fluffy. It was a gorgeous walk through the forest, listening to the Kaslo River, observing the heavily-laden trees covered in snow, and watching flickering lantern lights along the trail. Happy Solstice, Readers!

First AT

Yesterday I got out for my first day alpine touring - you can see we had a stunning blue sky day. We've waited a couple of weeks for one of these. The snow conditions were excellent, although we could use more of the white stuff. I'm still making my big stem christie turns, but I have managed to get down the slopes and feel more confident with all the lumps and bumps which we know are tree stumps and rocks underneath that snow! I got to do the "ski out" and I wasn't too far from the ski-doo when I saw big, loping animal tracks through the snow - they certainly weren't there on our way up. The tracks stopped abruptly under a tree. I looked up, fully expecting to see a cougar ready to pounce. I didn't! However, something did get killed at the base of that tree and I'm not sure where the predator went. I'm simply glad that I didn't become the prey. Thanks, Dave, for a beautiful day in the mountains.

Going Out to Play

Yesterday morning I heard a fair bit of grumbling from Dave about needing to get the driveway cleared by 9 a.m. - after all, nobody had to get to work. That's true. However, what is more important is that someone had to go out to play!! We had a big dump of very wet, heavy snow on Wednesday morning, but 5 brave women showed up for Wednesday Walkers and we had our skis. Most of us ended up skiing from just above town up to the airport because the roads weren't plowed and we didn't want to get stuck - skis are perfect for those road conditions. Things are melting today and I notice that Dave is leaving the house to go out to play (it's 8 a.m.) in the snow at Idaho Peak. Good thing the driveway is cleared and we got rain last night so lots of the snow is melting! We retired folk are up early and have the chores done - it's time to play once again.

Damage Control

About a week ago we decided that we'd turn off the electric fence - we pretty much figured that we'd "trained" the animals around here and winter is well underway. If the snow gets hard, the deer can climb over the fence and we've wired some of our shrubs in case they get in. However, last night a bear climbed up a tree and over the fence - this is what is left of the bird feeder hanging above our east deck. It looks as if he/she also had a good time going through the compost piles. I'd heard something in the night and thought to myself that Dave was making a heck of a lot of noise roaming through the house, but I realize that the bear was right up at the window. We've just strung up our lights along the deck - and plugged in the fence again!

First Ski

We've had our first good dump of snow so yesterday I got out the new (from late last spring) cross country skis and headed off to True Blue Mountain. Most of the trails are pretty narrow and never tracked, so my friend and I simply kept going up the forest service road. We had great conditions for a first ski - the snow improved with every km of gradual elevation gain. I like the FS roads for skiing - they are usually not too steep and there's room enough to snowplow if it does get steep. I liked how the skis performed and I don't think I picked up too many scratches on the lower end of the road. It's winter - gotta go out to shovel - again!

Canada's Second Most Popular Sport?

After a hiatus of 32 years, I ventured out on a sheet of curling ice on Thursday. This is the "Seniors League" in Kaslo. The teams are made up by drawing a card (and many of you know how much I love cards!) and off we go to one of the two sheets of ice in the Kaslo Curling Club. The ice is extremely good - much better than I ever remember playing on in any rinks in SK. The game was very friendly - I was on a team of 3, playing against another team of 3 - and I got plenty of exercise doing lots of sweeping for my team and the opponents. I realized how much my yoga comes into play in delivering stones and in sweeping. Who'd have thunk it, eh - yoga and curling???? I had to reflect on this being Canada's game, as I remember Jack Farr always declaring in the old days of Saturday radio. I actually had a pretty good time and plan to go back. I have to admit that the walk home looking at the magnificent Purcells was the best part.

In Praise of Scabiosa

I just darted outside to pick another bouquet of flowers - looks as if we may get some serious winter weather in a couple of more days, but I love collecting flowers from May until November! The lowly scabiosa (awful name) has to be the number one bloomer in my garden this year. I got the plant from a gardener in Balfour who sells out of her yard. It didn't do too much last year, but I felt it needed better sun and improved soil. That proved to be the case! The plant has been blooming since late May and in spite of our dismal level of sunlight right now, it's still sending up new flowers - not a lot, but a few. Today I picked daylilies (two have rebloomed), Rudbeckia 'Goldstrum', scabiosa, clematis and calendula. I also have nasturtium, but they are looking a bit leggy. I figured I wouldn't bore you all with another picture of yet another bouquet, but it sure is fun to be able to garden in mid-November. Happy Winter, everyone.