The Weather has been fine
Despite
a seemingly cold July, Summer came back with a vengeance. We had a number of days in the low 30’s. On August 17, Osoyoos recorded a record high
of 38.3 degrees, but since it is generally about 5 degrees cooler on the mountain
our high was 33.4. We get used to this
heat very quickly, and are now finding
it chilly when it is merely 18 degrees.
As usual,
summer is very dry. We have received 5.4
mm of rain in July and 4.0 mm of rain in August, so much of the vegetation is now
brown and dormant. I don’t know how
these plants make it year after year.
One nice thing about August is the spectacular sunsets.
Fire Season: The Palmer
Fire
After a very quiet year for wildfires, things broke loose in
mid-August. The Mount Christie fire near
Penticton garnered a lot of national attention, but that was well away from
here.
The Palmer Fire was another story since it was right across the valley from us in Washington. On August 18, we saw a huge plume of smoke in the afternoon, seemingly out of nowhere. (On the left end of Lake Osoyoos below, you can see the American town of Oroville.)
Unfortunately, winds picked up.
By nighttime, you could see the flames.
Within a day, the fire had grown to 6,000 acres; within 5 days,
the fire had covered 18,000 acres. The
biggest concern was that it might reach the Canadian border, but as of the end
of August 31 the fire was 96% contained.
In the first two days we found considerable amounts of ash
on the balcony, with the first day showing blackened fir needles.
Even after the fire had moved through an area, you could see
hot spots of smouldering as the fire continued within large stumps or roots. This is as close as we ever want to get.
Adventures
Despite Covid-19 keeping us away from town as much as
possible, we still have had a number of small but very enjoyable outings.
A Conservation Land trail is withing walking distance of our
house; there is water running quietly through the valley. It is like walking into a different
country. Everything is green and lush and
you get to see lots of bird and beast activity.
We then drove west of here to cycle in the Similkameen Valley
along with a pair of friends. Our route
was a quiet side road that wound through orchards and vineyards, and that is
where we made a wonderful discovery. The
temperatures were in the low thirties when we discovered a self-serve fruit stand
at a corner. Some of the produce was
free for the taking while other products were offered on an honour system. This is a fabulous time of the year, with peaches
at their peak and all kinds of vegetables available. Apples will be next. It really is tough living here.
The scenery in the area included some local hoodooos, which are not uncommon around here.
The Game Camera and Critters
We have only small things to report since it appears the
house construction next door is keeping the deer away. One of our first discoveries was that of a
Western Terrestrial Gartersnake, also known as a wandering gartersnake. We found Wandering Willie on our coffee deck
one morning, to be followed by an appearance on our patio a few days later. He’s just a little guy, about a foot long, but
he is cute.
Some Ruffed Grouse showed up, but the only one who stuck around
decided to become a guard grouse and stood on a rock in a dedication fashion to
protect us.
In hopes of getting a few more shots of Wandering Willie, I
put the game camera looking at our sidewalk, but only managed to get about 200
pictures of mice!
One, then two, then three…
A joyful reunion: on August 28 R2V2 was back!
We had a family tragedy late July, when R2V2 developed
robotic vacuum dementia. First, he would
go round and round in circles until finally beeping for help. Then, he would get stuck in corners, again
beeping desperately for help. With a phone call to tech support, it was
determined he was eligible for warranty work, and he travelled to San Jose, California,
for a spiritual rebirth. A replacement arrived
5 days ago, and it is clear this is a younger and more capable model. He doesn’t get stuck under the love seat, and
he moves more quickly. This clearly was a
new entity, so he has been named BART for Born-again R Two. We still call him R2 for short, of course. He has been well-used since his return, especially
for picking up wildfire ash.
August 31 Major weeding done
I promised I wouldn’t whine again about weeding, and I won’t. After one final push yesterday, I have enough
for a final trailer-load to go for disposal.
I developed a new tool for hauling weeds that sped up the
process.
Earlier this month, Brian took a picture of me in the grasses
to show how tall everything grew this year.
One benefit of grubbing for weeds is that you find beautiful wildflowers like the Mariposa Lily.
There is one big invasive problem that can’t be dealt with
by pulling, and that is that of Cheatgrass.
Cheatgrass was introduced in the 1800’s and is particularly a problem in
dry regions. It’s everywhere. It goes dormant sooner that the native plants, and
is at higher risk of burning in wildfires.
More immediately, it has the nastiest seeds. Looking innocent at first, they have an oval
end which tapers to a sharp point with a bristle. The oval end penetrates smoothly into anything
woven, but from that point it is very difficult to dislodge. And like a porcupine quill, the bristle end
hurts! See my knee pads? And that was after shaking the extras loose! The only way to remove them is to pull them
out backwards, which is way too time consuming.
And, I have to launder the affected garments separately; otherwise the
seeds get embedded in everything and provoke pain in the most unlikely places.
Ah, well, there has to be a price for living in Paradise.
Thanks for visiting.
Stay safe and well.
