August 2019

It’s hard to imagine that we are halfway through the summer—where does the time go?

Lots of interesting things happened this month!

Fine Dining in the Neighborhood

To begin with, some of our neighbors below us decided to have a long-table dining event for the neighborhood.  They barbequed pork loin, while the rest of us contributed pot luck to the meal.  Not only did they arrange for proper tables, tablecloths, and chairs but they hired a band of local musicians to serenade us while we dined.  We did miss the candles of course, but there was a fire ban on.

Fire Season

Speaking of which, the fire season this year has been extremely benign.  There never has been enough smoke to obscure the view, or even to cause some alarm.  Thank goodness!

One of the activities of our FireSmart group is to monitor the “Wapiti Firepit” every second Saturday morning.  A site used by the developer, which is essentially a gravel pit, is offered each year for people wishing to deposit yard waste like pinecones, trimmings, branches, etc.  The pit has been well-used, with over 120 loads deposited this year, preventing people from having to burn on their own properties with the risk of the fire getting out of control.  After the first snow, the local volunteer fire department lights the fire and tends it until it dies out.  (I’m sure they love that part!)  The only reason why I mention this is that as gate-keeper, you have more responsibilities that one might imagine.  I had a stare-off with the locals last weekend and it was unclear who was more curious.

Walking Around

As Brian and I prepare for our walking trip in Wales, we have been taking hikes around the neighborhood and in local environs.  Friends invited us to join them on a hike up the side of a little mountain at a town called Midway, which is just beside the US border.  It was a beautiful day with striking views from the trail.  The funniest part came at the top—we crossed over from Canada to the US to have a picnic.  (Heavens, we were at least 20 feet into American soil, and we weren’t even shot!)  The border is noticeable.

Midway had a number of several interesting attractions, but the best was the house of a local stone artist, with all kinds of funky examples of his structures.

Brian is Recovering

Brian’s neck has finally healed from the radiation burns, but is still very sensitive.  He has embarked on the immunotherapy, and has responded well, but is starting to show increasing signs of fatigue.  I am sure he will be so relieved when this is over.  He did finally get out kayaking this year in the middle of August, at Christina Lake, and enjoyed it hugely.

Introducing the “Bomb”Pit

New neighbors are providing us with huge entertainment.  We haven’t met them because they are merely preparing their building site on a small knoll below us, and we see heavy equipment.  Things then became more notable, because I heard a strange electronic warning signal.  I just happened to be looking at the side when there was a huge blast and a column of dirt rising in the air.  They were dynamiting rock to prepare the site.  The first blast tore out the side of a stone outcrop, the second blast spread more rock around and down the hill.  (Boulders were easily 4 feet cubed!)  On weekends we would walk by to see what had been done.  Finally, I heard the warning when I was near the camera and caught a small blast.  Going, going, gone……

Beasts

Naturally, I save the best parts for the end of the blog, when I get to talk about the various fauna sightings, and this month we had many.

I am proud to announce we have our own rattlesnake.  We “caught” this guy, who was about 2 ½ feet long, crossing our driveway.  Fortunately, there was no need for a standoff.

We put the game camera alongside a well-traveled deer train, and got to see fawns, mom with fawns, and then the stags who are developing their horns now.

There is no photo evidence to offer, but we have seen a solitary turkey as well as ruffed and dusky grouse. 

We had a big surprise with a sighting of a little guy about the size of a loonie, lurking on a doorsill in the morning.  It is a toad, it might even be a spadefoot toad which is considered endangered here, but how the heck did it wind up 3000 ft high on a dry mountain?

Another big surprise came with the sighting of a big guy.  Naturally, he was attracted by the bird feeders, and had a nutritious protein-laden snack to help build up weight for winter.

As a clear sign of impending fall, we note what things we haven’t sighted.  We got up on the morning of August 15 to sit outside for coffee, and it was eerily quiet.  In a bit we realized there were no wrens (the family had been there days before), and no hummingbirds!  A couple of hummingbirds straggled through over the next week:  they were transients from the north on the way south.  Birds are starting to flock, and the shadows are certainly getting longer.  We have bought our ski passes at Silverstar again this year, and I guess we will have to start looking forward to the next season.

Hope this finds you well and happy, and thanks for your interest!

July 2019 Summer in the Okanagan

Where the heck did July go?  We must have been busy because that month sure flashed by…

Update on Brian: 

Brian is certainly better off than he was a month ago.  The radiation burn on his neck has almost healed, although it still is a source of considerable discomfort.  He started his course of immunotherapy treatment, and has suffered no adverse reaction to it (despite everything the medical monograph promised…).  Although he still has to go to Kelowna once every two weeks, this is far less debilitating than the daily commute.  This treatment will continue once every two weeks for a year.

The Osoyoos July 1 Parade:

Of course we had to go to the parade.  Last year we were participants, so this was the first year that we were able to enjoy ourselves as spectators.  I will only touch on some highlights.

The first picture is that of Vince, Osoyoos’s homeless man.  The town has taken him to heart, and though he has had offers of lodging, etc, he is much happier out on the streets.  You never know when you will see him with his shopping cart.  He drinks, and is probably mentally ill, but he is a real character, and very likable.  This year, the parade had horses in it, and who showed up as the cleanup man but Vince!

In a small town of 5000, you don’t quite know what to expect as floats, and I was greatly entertained by the local towing company who truly strutted their stuff.  I got pictures of two of their rigs, with one towing a car, and the second one carrying a vehicle on its flatbed.  I couldn’t get the third in the picture for it was a monstrous rig towing a semi-trailer, but you get the idea.  Each of the towed vehicles were red in colour to celebrate Canada Day.

And then there was this float.  It had a theme-of super-heroes, but other than that I wasn’t quite sure what message they were sending.  However, they obviously were having a lot of fun!

The Weather and Fire Season: 

July apparently has been normal this year, with even a couple of thundershowers to provide some limited rain!  Monday night, July 22, changed the course of things.  We had a dry thunderstorm (not enough rain to register) with sufficient lightening strikes to start 5 spot fires on Anarchist Mountain.  Our volunteer fire department had just returned from 1 ½ hours of fighting a human-caused fire to then deploy in many directions at once.  All fires were fortunately doused, although they had to return the next day to check for hot spots.  This was a little too close for comfort.

Then, Tuesday night surpassed it all.  We got .8 mm rain (woo-hoo) and enough lightening to light up the skies.  The following picture as taken over Osoyoos by a photographer named Greg Reely who used 46 photos in the composite.  It says it all.  Even without the composite, the skies were indeed spectacular.

One of the fires started by that storm was located on Richter Mountain, which could be easily seen across the valley from us.  Smoke watching becomes a grisly fascination when you live in fire county.  From our place, we had an excellent view of the water bombers going back and forth, which was fascinating in itself.

The closest town to the east of us, Rock Creek, had a 37 square mile fire in 2015.  Here's what it still looks like this year.

This year has been remarkably benevolent compared to the last two (knock on cement:  it’s not flammable) and we even are able to see clearly without smoke.  That doesn’t change the urgency to clean up around our property, and we have just finished sending two large trailer loads of pine branches/cones/needles to a local burn pit.  As you can see from the picture, there is still a lot to be done. 

Remember how pine cones are so good for starting fires?  These ones are 3-4” long and 2-3” across.  These and the pine needles are considered equal to gasoline on a wildfire!  Fortunately, we have 3 acres to rake.....

Summer on the Mountain:

The last 10 days in July have finally warmed up to get into the 20’s, and we enjoy sitting out on our coffee deck in the morning.  The gurgler provides considerable entertainment, even when it is not turned on.  This is a Clark’s Nutcracker enjoying a little pool on top. 

Once we turn it on, there is a steady parade of birds to drink and bathe, and we have even had the pleasure of watching hummingbirds stand on the side in moving water to get a true salon experience.

Gardening (NOT) on the mountain:

Eastern living has not prepared me for the nuances of gardening here, but I was happy to water in the landscaped plants, and more of the cacti have been blooming.

Thinking that the sedums would do well here, I planted five in a small bed in hopes they would multiply.  Unbeknownst to me, sedums are equal to chipmunks as filet mignon is delicious to us.  These poor plants have been nibbled, some to their early deaths.  Wildlife 1, human 0.

Since I still love flowers, I had 6 large planters on the stone outside, and two hanging flower baskets.  With the warm temperatures and ample watering, these plants have flourished and bloomed heartily.  I wish I had taken pictures beforehand, but it was too late.  The deer came into the yard one night and methodically ate the blossoms in every container, including the hanging ones.  Here are the planters in mid-July.  Wildlife 2, human 0. 

Some of these plants were ostensibly deer-resistant, but it seems the flowers are open game.

I believe this is the culprit here.  He had been hanging around the house and we have been watching his antlers start to grow.  Even though I am convinced it is not manly to eat flowers, he now bears the name of “Sir Fleur”.

Music in the Park

One of the special things in the summer here is “Music in the Park”.  Every Friday evening at 6:30, a group sets up to entertain in a bandstand in a park bordering the lake.  There is no charge, and people bring their lawn chairs and settle down to enjoy themselves.  The groups often have interesting names:  here was Taylor Ray with the Back Seat Drivers (an excellent performance).

As you can see, the crowd is generous.  Last year, the organizers generally got about 350 people in attendance; for Taylor Ray they had 900 people in attendance, and are getting big crowds generally.

One of the most entertaining (and sometimes distracting) aspects is that people get up and dance in a clearing just by the bandshell.  There are all kinds:  senior ballroom dancers, line dancers, kids just having fun.  There is one woman, though, who is an event all by herself.  Her postures are extravagant, but a bit stilted, to I compare her to a Sandhill Crane on drugs.  She obviously has fun and we refer to her as the "Dancing Queen".

The Canadian Naval Band will be performing shortly, and that will be a treat.

Walking

In September, we head out to Wales for a 3-week walking holiday covering 300 kilometers, so we have started training excursions this month.  A very good one was up an access road on Mount Baldy, a local ski hill about half an hour from here.  It was a steep climb, but it was worth it for the views and the gorgeous display of alpine wildflowers.

Wildlife

As a confirmed rodent-lover, I was thrilled to find marmots in our area (although none at our place...rats!)  On a road below us, there is a large statue of a falcon pouncing, and to my great delight we drove by one day to see marmots lying on the back of the statue, sunning themselves!  No matter how many times I have come back, I haven't been able to catch them in the act, but they can easily be found on the rocks below the statue.  This is a hoary marmot--a handsome fellow if I can say so.

I am SO happy—I have finally seen my rattlesnake.  This was a little guy, only about a foot long, but he had about 5 rattles, so he wasn’t a baby.  We weren’t too fussed about one another, for we had been moving slowly, and essentially were merely inconvenient rather than disturbing.  This was at a house about 100-200 lower in elevation than us, which is apparently about the highest altitude the snakes will get to.  So, I may never have one of my own—rats!

We hope the summer is treating you equally well—thanks for checking in!

June 2019

Where did that month go?  What happened?

June 1 featured the Cactus Jalopies Car Show, which was far greater than we imagined.  (Remember that Osoyoos only has 5000 residents.)  There were over 500 vehicles on display ranging from 1920’s Ford model T’s to a relatively new Rolls Royce, with everything in between.  A lot of chrome was on display,  There were a number of amusing and amazing vehicles there—a testimony to the lavish care and time some owners spent.  The crowds were generous.  There were also a number of hangers on:  a lot of motorcycles were parked nearby, and those vehicles are extremely popular here.

The wildlife nursery was seeing progress because by early June, the five phoebe babies were getting well-feathered, and they were certainly crowded in the nest.  On June 8, the chicks fledged, which was fascinating to watch.  First they fluttered down to the balcony, with limited ability to fly.  By the end of the day, they had fluttered down further to the patio, and found a marvelous sumac shrub to hide under.  For the next few days, they sheltered in the shrub while they strengthened their wings; in the meantime, it appeared that the parents were feeding the shrub assiduously.  A few days later they had all dispersed.  The parents have visited the nest a couple of times because they sometimes use it for a second clutch, but that hasn’t happened so far.  Perhaps they are remembering the amazing number of flights they made to bring food to the chicks.

Wildlife interactions continue to be fascinating.  We have a wren family nesting above our coffee deck.  What we didn’t know was how much wrens do not like chipmunks.  Our young chipmunks are all over the place, and one morning we watched the wren chase one vigorously 5 times.  A few efforts involved just a straight rush at the rodent, but one time involved chasing it all over the ground as well as up and down a tree.

June 17 featured the last day of radiation for Brian.  Unfortunately, the effects increase up to 14 days after the last treatment, and he has been suffering third degree burns to his neck.  He also has been very tired from the daily driving to Kelowna as well as the effects of radiation.  The last couple of days have been a radical improvement.  He has started his regime of immunotherapy with the first transfusion in Kelowna, to be continued once every two weeks for the next year, a long haul next to come.  On the other hand, we have both met people in the Cancer Clinic while waiting for his treatment, and their stories are so sad.  Things are much better for us, and the level of care he has received has been gold standard.

We were visited by the local bear this month.  The first clue was the rather awkward configuration of the pole.  The second clue was the absence of the peanut feeder, which was discovered a few days later in a somewhat rearranged shape.  Finally, the bear dug up a rotten log beside the house.  Unfortunately, we didn’t catch it on the game camera.  On the other hand, it hasn’t returned, which is good news.

Last year’s landscaping has taken well, and we are having the pleasure of cacti coming into bloom.  The delicate blossoms are so amazing given the sturdy and prickly leaves.