Back To Blogging Again

     After a short hiatus in blogging, while hosting my brother and his family who were visiting us from Dallas, my wife, Kona, and I are getting back to our slow, mundane, lifestyle again.  We had an enjoyable visit and were able to catch up with what was happening in their lives.  While we had seen my brother last year when all of my siblings visited the Robson Valley, we hadn’t seen his wife or two sons for years.  In fact, the two boys were just kids last time we saw them, and now they are both in university.

    During their visit, we took them to a few of the unique local Robson Valley sites.  One evening we made the forty-five minute drive to the scenic Tete Jaune Lodge, to belly up and gorge ourselves at their tasty buffet, situated right beside the Fraser River.  This time, the dinner was an unique experience because there was a heavy downpour of rain and thunder storm going on.  

    We ate under the large protective tent roof, watching the flowing river as the lighting flashed and thunder rumbled.  It all made for a very memorable dining experience, but the wild weather didn’t prevent us from stuffing ourselves with the delicious food.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

No Blog For Five Days

     Whenever I don’t blog for a few days, people always send me emails asking if I am alright.  My brother’s family has just arrived up here for a visit, so I don’t think I will be able to do my blog for a while.  I thought I would just get out in front of my probable absence and warn you that the blogs won’t be be there for probably five days.

    You can take a short break too.

See my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

My Pollinator-Friendly Lawn

     I live in a rural area and I have never been a fan of mono-cultured lawns, so if I see patches of  wildflowers coming up in my lawn, I mow around them so they can bloom, providing nectar for the bees, and giving the pollenated plants a chance to reseed, so they come up again next year.  For all of those uniform, mono-cultured lawn purists, my lawn looks chaotic and unkept, but I would rather have a lawn that provides food for pollinators and have a wide diversity of plants, than have a monotonous, carpet-looking lawn around my house.

    Once the blooms start to brown, wither, die, and no longer provide nectar for the pollinators, I mow over them.   Yesterday as I was mowing I was going to mow over one of the flowered sections in my lawn, but then I saw some bees still working some of the flowers, so I mowed around the patch again.

    Although chaotic looking, I think my lawn is a lot more interesting to look at, than those mono-cultured ones.  My lawn offers a variety of shaped foliage, different hues of greens, plus a variety of colored flowers, and it makes me feel good whenever I see the bees out there buzzing around and getting the nectar they need to survive.

    Below are some photos of some of the patches of wildflowers that I mow around in my front yard.

    Take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca

Robin Egg Blue

     For weeks now, I have been seeing a robin fly off from under the carport whenever I walk out of the carport door.  Robins have often build their nests up in the carport rafters, and again this year the are using the location.

    A few days ago as I was walking past the end of the carport, I noticed the end of a robin’s egg laying on the ground, so I assume that one of their eggs had successfully hatched. 

    Robin eggs are sure a memorable soft shade of blue.  

Take a look at my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Eternal by Lisa Scottoline

      I always gravitate toward reading historical fiction.  I have always been interested in the history of different cultures, and reading about characters living through those past events are a bonus.  I chose to read Eternal because it was set in Italy during the Fascist Regime of Mussolini, something I didn’t know a lot about.

    The novel follows the lives of three very close friends, beginning in their teenage years, all from different backgrounds.  Elizabetta lives with a liberal father, once a painter, now a helpless alcoholic.  The father is very anti-fascist in his political views.  Elizabwetta’s handsome and athletic friend Marco, lives with a family who runs a bar.  His father is very pro-fascist and supports Mussolini.  The third in the trio of friends is Sandro, son of Jewish parents, with a father who is a prominent lawyer and his mother who is a physician.  Surprisingly, even through they are Jewish, they also support Mussolini, at least they did until his actions against the Jews began.

    Marco and Sandro, although the closest of friends, are slowly falling  in love with Elizabetta. 

    As the story evolves, Elizabetta’s mother abandons the family, because of the alcoholic father.  Young Marco is given a job as a messenger for a high ranking Fascist army officer, and Sandro gets a scholarship to study under a prominent mathematician. Things gradually become more difficult and strained for Sandro and his family when Mussolini, under the influence of Hitler, starts restricting Jews.  This action resulted in both his father and mother losing their jobs, even though both worked in important fields to the government.

    Marco’s status rises working for the fascists as his boss’s position rises in the party.  However, Marco’s status becomes somewhat jeopardized when his older brother is caught in an antifascist underground group and is killed.

    Things become increasingly dire for Sandro and his parents as Mussolini falls more under Hitler’s influence.  Without employment, they lose their home and are forced to live in a tiny apartment.   Eventually, they are rounded up with the other Jews to be sent to a camp.

    The plot is full of twists and struggles as situations change as the forces of history fall upon the three friends, and the dynamics of their friendships changes.  

    I learned a lot of Italian history from the novel and the storyline kept me turning pages until the end.  

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Prunes

     Yesterday morning when I was preparing my breakfast, I looked down at my colorful bowl of fruit (I hadn’t yet added the rolled oats) and noticed the six prunes in the mix.  Seeing them reminded me of the initial start of my daily dose of prunes, something I have been indulging in for three decades.  

    I was sitting at my drawing table doing computer mapping at my BC Forest Service workstation,  as I listened to CBC radio as I worked.  On the radio they were discussing prunes; a fruity food that I hadn’t eaten for scores of years.  They mentioned the fact the prunes were one of the best sources of antioxidants one could find.  At the time I was beginning to hear a lot about the benefits antioxidants and hearing the discussion of prunes made me start to remember and crave their taste.

    When my lunch hour came around, I was still craving the a taste of prunes, so after I had eaten my lunch I walked down to the grocery store and bought myself a bag of prunes.

    I ate some of the prunes when I got back to my workstation, before getting back to making maps.  After a while, I had an urge for some more prunes, so indulged myself again.  I ate quite a lot.  

    About an hour later, I began to have disturbing loud and strong rumblings in my stomach, and began feeling nervous and unstable about eating so many prunes, remembering the bowel side effects they are most notably known for.   

    I don’t really remember if the prunes did produce that side effect on that particular day, but from then on, if I was eating prunes, I would always limit myself to just five or six of them.

    After learning of their generous antioxidant benefits on that day long ago, I did start the habit of adding five or six prunes to my breakfast, daily.  It is a practice I faithfully continue.  

You can see my paintings at:  davidmarchnt2.ca

One Rain Shower After Another

    The photo shows a couple of swallows darting around as darkening clouds obscure the Cariboo Mountains.   We have been experiencing a parade of rain showers for months now.  Many of the showers are quite heavy with rain.  The downpours have formed puddled in the bottom of the rows between of potatoes in the garden.  I have previously mentioned the flooding of my root cellar caused by all of the moisture in the ground.

    Showery weather used to be the norm for the Robson Valley during the spring and into July, and then generally we experience a switch into sunny, dry, and hot days in late July and August.  In the last handful of years there has been a disruption of that pattern and so I was happy to have it return, having experienced those years of drought and forest fire danger. 

    With the apparent building of a powerful El Nino in the Pacific and forecasts of hot and dry weather ahead for us, I am hoping the fire danger will not become too great for us.

    The rain storm hit with strong winds and a wet fury, then thirty minutes later, the storm had disappeared and we were back to sun, blue sky, and puffy white clouds, awaiting the next bout of showers to appear.

You can see my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca