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Crazy tobogganists!
So, our lovely visitors brought a couple of crazy carpets to toboggan with...
And after a bit of driveway "grooming" the luge was tested! There were only a couple of crashes and minor injuries. I was busy photographing - so of course - couldn't take part in the races...
Here's a link to a short, silly video Special Winter Olympics on Salt Spring
Above - "The Special Olympics Team" and "Duncan in Action" Below - "Andy in the lead" and "Relief at the Finish!"
It's a white Christmas! Hurrah!
We have 4 fabulous friends over to celebrate the holidays with us (thanks for coming Andy, Martina, Scott & Anna!) and the snow is finally sticky enough to make snowballs!
Martina, Andy and Dexter at right with their Christmas day snowman! When Dexter saw the snowman, first he barked like crazy and then he pooped right next to it - giving it his seal of approval!
And below Christmas Dinner:
Hurrah - I have an office!!!
Finally I have an office (it's just the end of the dining room) but I don't care! I have been working in a 4ft x 3ft corner since the end of May. This is heaven!!!
See below for the full progression in pictures.
The plan is to finally give me an office over the top of a garage, but that will be after we build the guest cottage. So a way off yet!!
This little beauty is called a Red-Breasted Sapsucker. He drills neat little rows of holes in trees looking for bugs and coming back later to enjoy the sap... He's about 9 inches long (so in between the large Pileated and small Downy Woodpeckers).
I think we finally have a name!!
For our house/the cottage/property that is.
We keep seeing the gorgeous (and enormous) Pileated Woodpecker (16+ inches long) on our feeder and flying around the property making it's chattering, laughing sound. See right!
We also regularly see the cute little downy woodpecker (about 6 inches long with little white tufts just above the beak - see the size difference in these two photos!), the lovely Red-breasted Sapsucker - (see separate post) and the Northern Flicker - which is also quite common in urban areas.
So, we're going with Woodpecker something. Woodpecker Cottage & Retreat OR Woodpecker Ridge Farm (we have a cool, big ridge along the back of our property which you can walk along).
It's very exciting to finally (almost) have a name!! And we're probably going to have a nice vehicle gate made for the entrance to the property (now that we have deer-fencing we need a gate!) that we may put have a woodpecker designed into!
I'm beginning to feel like we really own this place and can't wait for spring to start some planting/landscaping!
First the deer, now rabbits!!!
OK, so we held off on planting too much food and doing any landscaping because the deer just eat everything - bulbs, plant shoots, stripping bark off trees (and killing them sometimes).
But we had this little ramshackle vegetable patch which we diligently cleared and planted up.
Now, Duncan hates brussel sprouts but he planted some for me for Christmas. And of course we planted Kale - a great winter crop and full of nutrients. We also planted cauliflowers and leeks (which are very slow growing). And there was some lettuce left (before the snow at least!).
Now most of it is gone!!! The first we knew was that the healthy carrot shoots disappeared. Then the brussel sprouts and some kale/cabbage, then most everything else!
Well, there are no hoof prints in the flower bed PLUS they appear to have been eaten from underneath, not from on top. RABBITS!!! They didn't eat anything all summer, but I guess once it gets cold and they have less food, they will try other places and other foods...
There are in fact a few beets left (yuk!), some leeks and parsnips... How strange that rabbits like carrots and all the other things but not parsnips...
Goodness, now we have to figure out how to beat the rabbits. With rabbit fencing I guess - and Dexter roaming freely once the deer-fencing is up...
The joy of living closely with nature...
Timberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
OK, so deer-fencing will be happening soon - hurrah on two fronts - we will be able to 1) plant bulbs and plants without them being chomped by deer and 2) let Dexter off to roam free in the two fenced acres.
And prior to the deer fencing we had 2 cedars removed. I have resisted for the last 18 months, but if we really want to grow anything in that field they spread such a large canopy blocking out valuable growing space and light! In fact they are not 2 cedars - each one was made up of several trunks.
And as it turns out one was rotten, so it was good that we caught it. And we have left one stump sticking up for the wildlife - woodpeckers etc.
It was crazy having the tree guys in - chainsaws, (wood)chippers, the quadbike, the noise, shouts and danger! I've created a small photo album so you can see how they do it and one photo above!
Iain Banks: The Wasp Factory: A Novel
OK I haven't recently read this - it was a few years ago, but it is a landmark book from a very interesting author. (*****)
Markus Zusak: The Book Thief
This is a great example of storytelling. A different (if overplayed at times) angle means Death is narrating the story of Liesel a spunky girl who lives in Germany in the Second World War. I didn't always like the style of prose/writing and it took me a while to get into it, BUT, I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this book. I loved the characters and interactions, the way such a difficult time is narrated, the 'human-ness' of it all. Sadness, a childhood interrupted - and yet not. Ultimately thought-provoking and uplifting. (****)
Markus Zusak: The Book Thief
For info: This is the import cover design which I MUCH prefer!
Day 205 - December 2nd 2008
Email Sabbatical Update ( and Confession!)
OK, so I confess. I have been checking email. It started off innocently enough: I had some tasks to do for a networking group for which I am on the board - and most things are done by email. But while I was there I would just quickly check other things and open and delete others. And before I knew it at the end of last week I was - again - feeling overwhelmed by email.
So this week I am REALLY testing myself. I last checked email Sunday night - and whilst I have sent one email (I promised a website link to someone) I have not hit the very tempting "Send and Receive" Button.
Now it is only Tuesday afternoon. But I think (apart from holidays) that this is a record for me.
Interestingly what I have learned so far:
Technology is amazing AND yes, we are using it to stay in touch (and get back in touch!) more. But somehow we are becoming more DISconnnected with what's really important. Real 'in-time' contact - whether quality time with family and friends, a business meeting or a phonecall.
Like everyone else I use email because it's very convenient. We can fire something off quickly and with little effort by email. When we pick up the phone we need to think things through beforehand, and make an effort to be pleasant and professional. Email allows us to just type, review (some people miss this step...) and send - whatever mood we are in - with least effort.
So. I'm not going to check email until next Monday - and we'll see then if the world has ended...
Watch for future updates!
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