I was feeling a bit down last week... missing my flowers in the yard in PoCo... We were having beautiful sunshine, saw blossoms on the berry bushes, wild flowers were growing, the bird sanctuary had gone from brown to green... I missed my flowers; so I decided to do something about it :) With a shovel in hand I got some asters from B in the village, M gave me some hostas and astillbe, C across the street donated a few plants (I have to look it up the name. There are some plants growing here I have never seen before, weeds included!) and I dug up some lupins from the side of the road heading out of town. I've never been able to successfully transplant the ones brought home from our travels but there are so many here, they better grow! I brought come crococsmia, daises, black eye susan, sedum, and japanese anemone from back home. The only resident plants here are some cedar hedges, a HUGE poppy plant and a very nice shrub with little white flowers (I have no idea what it is called). I figured if we were still here next year, it would be nice to have a colourful front yard. However, I followed NO gardening rules I learned from my neighbour back in the 'hood because I had limited product to work. I did my best to take into account odd numbers of groupings, folliage colour/texture, height/spacing... and all that landscape design stuff. I just can't get over how big everything grows here. The berry bushes grow inches every day, buttercups that usually are low in the grass grow like flowers on a stem, there is a white wild flower that looks like yarrow but 10x taller and wider, some bigger lupins look almost 4 ft tall... this place has real garden potential. Enough about gardening.
So when I say next year, I do hope we are here another year... we have to see how work goes and then see if we can rent this place longer...? all very TBA but we are not ready to come back to the big city quite yet!
And I am very happy to be riding on two wheels again. My bike had been down and out for months but I got it fixed in Rupert last time we were off-island and it's good to go. Kinda silly to drive the truck 2 mins to work when a 4 min bike ride is the alternative. I even rode out to the baseball game in the village last weekend... when I got there I found out that they were waiting for me to start the game. Apparently I am on the team, as terrible a ball player that I am, but every game I have played we won; 'you are like a lucky pair of socks' they told me :)
Lots happening in the next few days: we are going crabbing tomorrow (a good excuse for B to buy a BIG crab net) and camp out at the beach for Saturday night, on Sunday there is a pole raising in the Village outside the Hall with a feast to follow, Monday is beach day for the school, Wed there is an awards assembly (J's teacher said we should be there) and Thursday is the last day of school! YEAH!
Next week my mom comes for a 'work' visit and then the boys will head to Rupert with B to visit family over there too. I'm looking forward to my quick trip south in July and then having lots of family relations come visit in August. It will be a FUN summer :)
I will get some pics on here soon to prove I am actually playing baseball (I usually play catcher, I can catch ok but I have a terrible throw back to the pitcher. don't laugh LF!), and show you the buckets full of crab we are going to catch this weekend!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Haida never get lost...
...only delayed. This was the best one-liner of the day :)
Yesterday started out as a cedar bark gathering adventure. Harvesting the bark is step one of making a traditional cedar hat so we wanted to learn how that was done.
It was a beautiful day, not too windy, not to cloudy, not at all rainy. We drove down a forest service road just outside of Port and stopped at the end to get into the bush where the cedar trees grew straight and tall. We walked along the spongy moss covered ground and stepped over downed trees and stumps looking for the perfect cedar tree.
We had to find a tree that was the right diameter, did not have too thick outer bark, not too many branches, no signs of bark twisting and had good inner bark. Quite the check list just to find a tree to take a strip.
We pulled 10 good sized bundles before we started to think about heading out to get lunch back at the trucks... which direction were the trucks again?? We followed the fallers tape, looked for the road clearing, scanned the trees for a nearby lake... all of which should get us closer to food and the trucks but no luck. After doing a big circle and getting back to where we started, we headed into a recent cut block to get a better view of our whereabouts. We spied a cabin...
with a driveway that led to a road... we passed a few other deserted cabins with treasures (we will go back and scavenge around one day)... and we kept following the road that had to take us somewhere...
By early afternoon the kids were now quite tired and hungry so M and I kept going in search of the truck. While walking down the road we saw bear tracks, albeit old ones but I was glad I brought along the axe in case of trouble. Another few kms down the road we found the fork that would take us back to our trucks... only 6 km away. Thankfully some other cedar bark gatherers were coming down the same way, gave us a lift back to the trucks and we went back to pick up B and the kids. They had prepared a lovely fire pit and we roasted our hot dogs for lunch which was more like dinner. So we were not late (planning to be back home by 4pm), just delayed.
Yesterday started out as a cedar bark gathering adventure. Harvesting the bark is step one of making a traditional cedar hat so we wanted to learn how that was done.
It was a beautiful day, not too windy, not to cloudy, not at all rainy. We drove down a forest service road just outside of Port and stopped at the end to get into the bush where the cedar trees grew straight and tall. We walked along the spongy moss covered ground and stepped over downed trees and stumps looking for the perfect cedar tree.
We had to find a tree that was the right diameter, did not have too thick outer bark, not too many branches, no signs of bark twisting and had good inner bark. Quite the check list just to find a tree to take a strip.
We pulled 10 good sized bundles before we started to think about heading out to get lunch back at the trucks... which direction were the trucks again?? We followed the fallers tape, looked for the road clearing, scanned the trees for a nearby lake... all of which should get us closer to food and the trucks but no luck. After doing a big circle and getting back to where we started, we headed into a recent cut block to get a better view of our whereabouts. We spied a cabin...
with a driveway that led to a road... we passed a few other deserted cabins with treasures (we will go back and scavenge around one day)... and we kept following the road that had to take us somewhere...
By early afternoon the kids were now quite tired and hungry so M and I kept going in search of the truck. While walking down the road we saw bear tracks, albeit old ones but I was glad I brought along the axe in case of trouble. Another few kms down the road we found the fork that would take us back to our trucks... only 6 km away. Thankfully some other cedar bark gatherers were coming down the same way, gave us a lift back to the trucks and we went back to pick up B and the kids. They had prepared a lovely fire pit and we roasted our hot dogs for lunch which was more like dinner. So we were not late (planning to be back home by 4pm), just delayed.Monday, May 18, 2009
May Long Weekend
Our first May long weekend in many years we have not gone to Princeton with C&D: miss you guys :) ... I wonder how our little cabin is doing: did it make it through the winter? how is the roof holding up? windows? are there critters squatting inside? was there still snow on the ground this year?
Tonnes-o-logs on the beach.
Off the East coast of the island is where the Naikoon Wind project is proposed. There is a test tower about 6miles off shore and we could just see it.
It was so windy that all my pics were a bit blurry. Had to be the wind, not the photographer :)
Saturday morning we packed up after breakfast and headed back to town for Harbour Days. B had a noon softball game in a gentle rain shower followed by a late afternoon game in a torrential rain storm. No such thing as a rain-out here. They were slipping in the outfield, splashing in the mud at home plate and sat huddled under the roof between innings. But the highlight was the dog that snuck in and grabbed a glove and then took off out of the park... I think the guy got his glove back but it was pretty funny.
Sunday morning was a lazy day with pancakes at home instead of at the festival pancake breakfast. Then off to the flea market and the boys stayed there with some buddies selling caramel apples. Ben and I headed to softball for the afternoon and the boys hung out in town. (above pics are from Sunday; with the cloudy weather there were fans in the stands) I got regular phone calls with their whereabouts; we are at the roller-rink, we had a burger for lunch, we are on the fire truck, we are in the parade, we are at Atwells getting balloons for a water fight, I lost my money; I had $8 in my pocket and now it is gone. Finally back home for dinner and a movie followed by fireworks at the rec. centre field. good times :)
Monday morning was sunny and the motorcycle was calling B's name so he headed off for a ride to Port Clements. The boys and I headed over to the Hospital to watch the raising of the Haida Medicine Story Pole carved by Christian White. It was very cool to see it go vertical and a little bit scary when the pole did a bit of a sway as it reached the top... Ben met us there and found a place holding the rope. I required lots of strong arms to move into place and hold the lines tight.
Carver, Christian White in the dark cedar hat and white T-Shirt
The fellow in the grey t-shirt with his back to the pic (sorry, I don't know his name) was the conductor of the pole raising orchestra. He would yell directions and the crew did exactally what they were told. He got total silence when he gave the order to pull the ropes; "more tension on this side, pull tighter over there"... a fantastic community effort!
All in an exciting weekend here on Haida Gwaii :)
The boys had no school on Friday so we packed up the truck and headed to Cape Fife via North Beach Dr. to Rose Spit lane to East Beach Blvd. Our neighbours R&E were our travel guides to get there; even saw a beached fin whale just past Carpenters Rd. Pretty cool (but also kinda sad) to see a whale up close.
The cabin was vacant so we moved our stuff in and not a moment too soon as the wind picked up and the rain came down over night. The kids didn't care it was cold.... they explored around the tidal lake, found a bunch of old net buoys, and played in the 'sinking sand'.
Inside the cabin were 2 of these bunk beds, a big picnic table and a wood stove.
The cabin was vacant so we moved our stuff in and not a moment too soon as the wind picked up and the rain came down over night. The kids didn't care it was cold.... they explored around the tidal lake, found a bunch of old net buoys, and played in the 'sinking sand'.
Inside the cabin were 2 of these bunk beds, a big picnic table and a wood stove.
Tonnes-o-logs on the beach.
Off the East coast of the island is where the Naikoon Wind project is proposed. There is a test tower about 6miles off shore and we could just see it.
Saturday morning we packed up after breakfast and headed back to town for Harbour Days. B had a noon softball game in a gentle rain shower followed by a late afternoon game in a torrential rain storm. No such thing as a rain-out here. They were slipping in the outfield, splashing in the mud at home plate and sat huddled under the roof between innings. But the highlight was the dog that snuck in and grabbed a glove and then took off out of the park... I think the guy got his glove back but it was pretty funny.
Sunday morning was a lazy day with pancakes at home instead of at the festival pancake breakfast. Then off to the flea market and the boys stayed there with some buddies selling caramel apples. Ben and I headed to softball for the afternoon and the boys hung out in town. (above pics are from Sunday; with the cloudy weather there were fans in the stands) I got regular phone calls with their whereabouts; we are at the roller-rink, we had a burger for lunch, we are on the fire truck, we are in the parade, we are at Atwells getting balloons for a water fight, I lost my money; I had $8 in my pocket and now it is gone. Finally back home for dinner and a movie followed by fireworks at the rec. centre field. good times :)Monday morning was sunny and the motorcycle was calling B's name so he headed off for a ride to Port Clements. The boys and I headed over to the Hospital to watch the raising of the Haida Medicine Story Pole carved by Christian White. It was very cool to see it go vertical and a little bit scary when the pole did a bit of a sway as it reached the top... Ben met us there and found a place holding the rope. I required lots of strong arms to move into place and hold the lines tight.
Carver, Christian White in the dark cedar hat and white T-Shirt
The fellow in the grey t-shirt with his back to the pic (sorry, I don't know his name) was the conductor of the pole raising orchestra. He would yell directions and the crew did exactally what they were told. He got total silence when he gave the order to pull the ropes; "more tension on this side, pull tighter over there"... a fantastic community effort!
All in an exciting weekend here on Haida Gwaii :) There are a couple more poles being raised around town in the next couple months and there is a 40th anniversary celebration of a pole carved by Robert Davidson happening this summer. I will find out when it is... maybe when my parents are here to visit :)
Saturday, May 9, 2009
First Campout
We went camping beside the Tlell River last weekend. Thankfully the weather held and there was only wind to deal with. The tents were blown over a few times until we got them anchored securely. We spent the first afternoon trying to get a HUGE tarp set up in case of rain but the wind worked against us and it kept flying away...
The boys had fun 'hunting aliens' in the bushes around the site. D had his toque covered in moss; he was almost invisible in the brush. J found this tree close by: a woodpecker hole and mushrooms on the same tree!
Here is my fast forward or flash back pic: father and son. I had to laugh. 
Friday night whale watch
Last Friday night we got a call from the neighbour 'Come see the whale in the inlet close to the hospital!" So we pulled a 'Schmidtty' (or u-turn) and headed back towards the village and stopped on the side of the road, along with dozens of other cars, and we got out to see the grey whale. A pic hardly does it justice but you can see the spray... and imagine the sound; it is like water being blown out of a snorkel. And the sound carried so well across the flat water. Almost made me jump if I was not ready and watching to see where the whale would surface. 
I have been told that whales in the inlet are very uncommon. They often come around soon after or just before an elder passes away. In the few days surrounding the whale visit, there were 3 deaths in town.
I have been told that whales in the inlet are very uncommon. They often come around soon after or just before an elder passes away. In the few days surrounding the whale visit, there were 3 deaths in town.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Finally it is Spring!
Even though the trees are still just budding and the perennials are up only a few inches, it now feels like spring.
But it almost feels like summer because it is light so early and late! Not sure when the sun comes up (it is bright as day at 7am) but i think the sun sets about 9:30pm and it is light till almost 10pm. crazy!
We have had great weather this week... Started off windy, cool and clear but in the last few days the wind has stopped and out came the tank tops and shorts all around town. I have seen lots of soft ice cream cones, one PT Cruiser with the top down, a couple guys outside working on old quads, 3 houses on our street have fresh cut grass, B has joined a softball team and track and field season has started at school.
It is also razorclam season and today D's class went digging. His buddy R was one of the more experienced diggers and he gave us all the good tips: look for the indent in the sand (even stomp beside it to be sure it bubbles), put the shovel in straight down with the blade on the ocean side, give a quick dig and straight out, toss the shovel and start digging! The clam is really quick and moves deeper but after a few handfulls of sand you can feel it and start to pull it out.
But it almost feels like summer because it is light so early and late! Not sure when the sun comes up (it is bright as day at 7am) but i think the sun sets about 9:30pm and it is light till almost 10pm. crazy!Monday, April 20, 2009
3 boats
Thanks to Mrs. L.F. for the great picture and description below. I think she is Haida Gwaii's newest island holiday promoter :)
The Queen of Prince Rupert (smallest one) did its last sailing yesterday. It has been officially retired from service. Northern Adventure (middle) has now taken over for all north routes but will do only the Queen Charlotte run June-Sept. Northern Expedition (largest and farthest away) starts in May on the direct Port Hardy – Prince Rupert run. It dwarfs the two other boats!
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