The Thin Edge of Spring

This picture wasn't taken today but it is taken from the Kaslo River Trail. Yes, the Trailblazers are at it again. I went to my first work party along the trail, clearing up the brush that has been cut down along the path. It was lovely to hear the Kaslo River in the background but I did get a taste of every type of weather - and yes, even a few flakes of snow.

In the afternoon, I traipsed off with the Wednesday Walkers and we headed uphill from Upper Kaslo and we had a taste of everything weather-wise. We hiked in falling snow, beautiful sunshine and a few windy squalls. I didn't take the camera with me so no new pictures for the post. On the bike ride home the aroma of the swamp lanterns was prevalent and it sure was nice to see those cheerful, yellow flowers. We saw several alpine plants on our walk, always understated, but still signs of spring. It was hard to tell whether today was a winter or a spring day but I guess that's what I get for travelling to Upper Kaslo on April 30th!

Raising the Beds

This spring my goal has been to get some garden beds into the sunshine. Mission accomplished! Dave built these on Wed. and Thursday of this week. Our plan is to put paving stones onto the top part of the driveway and I'm going to be planting my veggies and a few perennials in these sunnier garden beds along the driveway. I already like the look of it and only have sweet peas, spinach, chard and lettuce planted so far. Yesterday it became covered with 2 cm of snow and that remains today. However, it IS going to get better. Watch this spot for future pictures of the garden and the driveway as we get more work completed. By the way, the swamp lanterns have started to bloom in the swampy bits near our neighbourhood.

It's the Journey, Not the Destination

We actually had a couple of days this past week when it began to feel a tiny bit like spring. I went to work for 3 days and on two of those days it wasn't snowing in the early a.m. so I ventured out on my bike. This ride is pretty cool in the mornings but not in a bad way. It got me thinking about my other journeys to work over the past few years. In Saskatoon, it often was a long, cold ride in spring. I always liked the ride, however, because while riding to and from work I felt that I got a sense of the seasons instead of having them simply slip by and be finished before I'd even noticed. In the Isle of Man, I got a 15 min. walk along the Irish Sea and stone walls with sheep grazing behind them in order to pick up my ride into Douglas each day. Here, I sometimes get a 40 minute ferry ride to get to the other side of the lake.

While riding into Kaslo in a couple of more weeks I could easily begin to encounter bears and I usually see deer in our neighbourhood every day. The resident coyote family hasn't shown itself yet. I did notice that the swamp lanterns (or skunk cabbage if you prefer it) are starting to grow and a wee bit of yellow from the future flower is showing itself. It all makes for interesting every day journeys that are so enjoyable, even if one is going to work!

Socks By Cath (and Anne)

Keeping up with those folks from the Knitwear Deli I completed a project this week! Doesn't this pair just knock the socks off you? I received this wool from my friend Anne who bought it in New Zealand. It was such fun to knit and now I have a new pair of socks! Hope the weather warms up so I can show them off under my Birks. Yes, it is okay to wear socks with sandals in the Koots.

The Other Side of Bridge

Last Saturday I had my first opportunity to play Swiss Teams at a bridge tournament in Creston, B.C. My partner, Sue, and I played with two people from our Balfour Duplicate Club. In Swiss Teams one pair of the team will sit north-south while the others sit east-west. We have differing opponents. Eight hands are played by each table and they are the exact same cards. At the conclusion of the eight hands, the east-west pair get together with the north-south pair and compare scores. Points are awarded to the best contract and the number of points depends on the difference between the scores. Your team will either gets points or the opponents will get points. At the end of the comparison, the scores are added up and your team either won or lost the round. Then your pair moves to another pair of opponents. In Creston, we won three "rounds" and lost four but it was good enough for first in the C section (players with fewer than 99 Master Points). It's a very interesting process and I hope to participate again another time.

On the Chopping Block

I have to say that one of my favourite springtime jobs is that of splitting wood. I'm still too timid to try it with the axe, but my job is to do the first cut with the wedge and sledge pictured to the left. On Monday, Dave took down the first of this season's dead trees to clear out. We'd been anticipating this removal for two years, actually, and it doesn't really change the look of the place at all. Right now, it appears that we may

have next winter's wood all on the ground. We moved one of the woodsheds from the driveway - where it was decidedley unattractive - to behind the garage. I am moving wood that we split last spring into it. That wood has been hiding under a green tarp all winter. We've learned a good deal about "wood management" in our two years in the Koots and I hope we're approaching having it into a manageable system this year. We anticipate that this year's felled trees are the wood for the winter of 2010. I love having a bit of a woodlot. The sun is coming out and it's time to go split wood!

Raising the Bar

Last year I wrote about the necessity of having two wheel barrows at our property. This week, I discovered we're pretty much in need of two "bars" (the tool pictured). We received the bar from my brother-in-law who has good knowledge about essential tools in rural B.C. This is our hole digger, rock lifter, rock mover, and shed mover. This past week, Dave was busy moving our wood shed and I was busy creating a new garden and that requires "derocking" the area. I needed the bar to pick out the big rocks and Dave needed it as a lever for the shed - I think we need another bar soon.

This is a pretty frightful picture but I tried cropping it and it didn't seem to want to upload. The things I need to learn about blogs! However, you can see we still have a lot of snow to get rid of before real gardening can begin.