View my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
During the winter the deer often dine on shrubs, out in the bush and around the houses. They can really make an impact on how the plant looks. The cedar decorative shrub you see in the photo below once grew by our front porch. About fifteen winters ago, the deer ate all of the tree’s lower branches, leaving only the few on the top of the tree, those that they couldn’t reach.
The cedar looked very pitiful but I had mercy on it, so I dug it up and transplanted it down by my pond, not knowing if it would survive or not with so little greenery left. As you can see it did survive, although it still looks pretty ridiculous, with its very long naked trunk supporting its small green top. That cedar, and the chewed-up ornamental shrubs in town, inspired the cartoon.
You can view my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
I had spotted the same fox during the winter when there was snow on the ground and it was difficult to get a good photo of it then also, because the fox kept on truckin’ eager to be on its way. It is always reassuring to know that the fox is still around; out there eating mice.
You can view my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
I was going to take Kona to Koeneman Park for her early morning walk, but when we got there I noticed a couple walking their two dogs and Kona usually goes into a barking fit at the sight of other dogs, so I proceeded on to Horseshoe Lake. The sun was just rising above the Rockies and was creating a wonderful backlighting effect on the trees that where just starting to develop leaves. It made them look all frosty.
I have blogged before about backlighting and shooting pictures into the sun. It can create some really intriguing photos. I certainly like the ones I took this morning.
You can view my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
I have resisted getting a small tractor for the jobs because, even though I sometimes complain and I know a machine would make things quicker and easier, this donkey work does give me exercise and is more friendly to the atmosphere. I just hope that I will last as long as my cart and wheelbarrow.
You can take a look at my paintings: davidmarchant2.ca
That’s what I did Thursday evening, except after I had taken them out of the cart and put them on the deck, I went off to do something else, and totally forgot about them. Thursday night it got down to -6C (21F) and when I happened to walk around to the back of the house yesterday, I came upon the scene you see in the photo—frozen tomato plants. What a horrible sight after all the time I spent growing them.
Not all of my tomato plants were killed, fortunately about half of them were sitting on the deck table which is under the balcony, where they got some protection, and most of those survived, but I lost about 40 tomato plants and all of my chili pepper plants. It is the worst thing to happen to my tomatoes and peppers in the decades I have been growing them.
I called my friend David to tell him of my unfortunate event, and luckily, he has a lot of extra tomato plants that he will give me, so I should still be able to fill the tomato bed in the greenhouse with tomatoes.
You can view my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
Every year a pair of Canada Geese show up at the pond, but they rarely stick around for very long. Seeing and hearing just the one was concerning. Canada Geese mate for life, and seeing only the single made me wonder if something happened to its mate. Hopefully the mate is off preparing or sitting on a nest, although this is the first sighting on any goose on my pond, and usually there are two of them.
Thousands of geese migrate through the Robson Valley during the Spring and Fall, flying in formation or swimming on some body of water. We hear the noisy honking of the flocks as they fly along the Fraser River or just fly from one field to another. It is a sound of Spring.
One of the the sights I especially enjoy is when the geese land on the water. They arch their wings downward and like in slow motion, slowly tilting their bodies to adjust their approach, they gently glide into the water.
You can see my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
You can see my paintings at davidmarchant2.ca
We couldn’t help but take advantage of the summer-like weather by getting the Tuesday Night Jam out of hibernation for some playing. It was a last minute decision to meet, so not all of our musicians could make it. We hadn’t played together since the fall, and I’m sure everyone was missing the music as much as I was.
Since Covid is still around, we all spread out on the train station porch to play like we did last summer. Last night was better than our summer jams because there wasn’t any rain and only one reported mosquito. It is more difficult to hear each other outside and spread out, but it still worked.
Since we last played I had been trying to play a bit every day at home, but mostly just with my guitar, ignoring my mandolin. Last night on the songs I usually played with mandolin, I would suddenly come upon a chord and not remember how it was fingered, which was a bit of a shock, knowing I had played some of those songs a hundred times. There were a couple of songs that I couldn’t quite remember the melody for singing, which was also frustrating. It’s one of those cases of “Use it, or Lose it.”
We will continue to meet on the porch Tuesday nights weather permitting.
View my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
While I have adapted well to losing a finger, there are still times when I automatically do something then realize; “Hey, this doesn’t work well anymore.”
That happened to me yesterday when I was planting the peas in my garden. For years I would hold peas in my left hand, then pick a pea up with my right hand and plant it. I kept trying to do that yesterday, but every time I moved my left hand, peas would fall though the hole where my finger used to be. You can see one on the ground; it fell when I was trying to take the photo.
Of course, dropping a few peas is not really much of a problem, but its interesting how quickly a person forgets and falls into “automatic” even though things have changed.
Take a look at my paintings: davidmarchant2.ca
Yesterday was the first time this year that we hung our laundry out on the clothesline to dry. I was standing on the deck hanging the wash, when I happened to glance down at the lawn and noticed what looked to be an old receipt amongst the leaves. As I looked more intensely, I saw that it had a curious blue tint, so walked down the steps to investigate. I was surprised to discovered it was a ten dollar bill.
I have no idea how it got there or how long it has been sitting there. It may have even fallen out of the laundry I was hanging, I don’t know. The important thing is that I feel ten dollars richer, even though initially it might have come from one of my pockets, but I am looking at it as a gift from the Cosmos.
See my paintings at davidmarchant2.ca
We have been gifted with a series of pristine days; clear cerulean skies, bright sunlight, and comfortable temperatures. After such a.long winter it suddenly feels like we jumped over spring, right into summer. This taste of summer is a temporary treat, we’ve got a ways to go before the real thing finally comes, but its unexpected appearance is enough to renew the spirit.
The photo was taken from the gazebo at Horseshoe Lake a few days ago. You can still see some ice and there are ducks frolicking on the water, although they will be difficult to make out in the picture.
You can view my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
Now that my pond has melted we have begun to spot some waterfowl taking advantage of the open water. Yesterday as I was about to walk Kona around the pond I noticed a pair of Barrow’s Goldeneye swimming and diving on the pond. They are trusting ducks, so they didn’t take off as we approached, allowing me to take some photos.
Beside their unique and distinctive body coloring, they feature bright yellow eyes. I was surprised when I downloaded the photos on the computer, to see just how brilliantly yellow their eyes were.
Take a look at my paintings: davidmarchant2.ca
The clear skies we have been experiencing has convinced me that finally Spring has arrived. We have been taking Kona on early morning walks at Koeneman Park and I have been noticing the trees in the bright sunlight. Although the birches are still bare, they are still worthy of a photograph.
I was very happy with the decision to do the whole community at the same time. We get so many people traveling through from Alberta, where the case count is very high, so I now feel that the Robson Valley will have a bit more protection.
The shots will continue in McBride through Friday. Vaccines will be given to everyone that wants one. The crazies, of course, will stay way, but the bulk of our community will be protected. I stopped in at the library in the afternoon and ran into friends who had either already gotten their jabs in the morning or were scheduled to get them in that afternoon.
I haven’t had any symptoms from the shot except for constantly hearing the voice of Bill Gates in my head telling me to load the Microsoft operating system onto my Mac and to blindly accept his control over the world—just joking (I thought I’d better make that clear, because a lot of conspiracy-types would want to use those words as “evidence.”)
Yesterday was a good day.
You can view my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
“And the winner is.....A crocus.”
After the long gray winter, I hungrily await the blooming of flowers. A lot of flowering plants have sprouted and are showing their leaves in the flower bed beside the house where they catch and intensify the warmth of the sun, but the first plant that actually flowered was this lone crocus. I have planted 100’s of croci in the past decades, they bloom the first year, then slowly disappear with the passing of time. Happily, this particular plant is still hanging in there and doing well.
I’ve got to remember to soon spray the other emerging flowering plants with deer repellent. The deer usually come around at night an decapitate the blooms just as they start to open up. Thus is life in the Interior of BC.
You can see my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
Well, the waterfowl think it is Spring. The Robson Valley is on one of the migration flyways and so this time of year a lot of ducks and geese can be seen at they make a rest stop on their journey further north. The lakes have not yet melted, so they find what open water they can in the fields or along the river. I came upon this mixed flock of ducks enjoying the water in the pasture beside the highway between the Fraser River Bridge and McBride.
While I have had enough of the white stuff for the year, Kona will certainly miss the snow when it is gone. The snow seems to energize her, she romps, jumps, sprints across it, scooping up mouthfuls, as she runs. Snow brings her joy.
While this is sort of a goofy looking photo of Kona, it shows her leaping up after eating some snow. You can still see a bit of snow in her mouth, and the clump she was eating, on her paw.
Come on Winter, Give Spring a chance.
You can view my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
This morning as we walked, there was a very light bit of snow gently floating down from the sky, and as we turned to head back toward the car, I spotted the Cariboo Mountains, bathed in sunlight, but somewhat faded due to the veil of snow. It was a nice effect.
You can view my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
Lucifer liked the velvety padded inside of the guitar case, and now she can be found almost daily snoozing in it. It is sitting on a table in my room, so she feels safe from the dog and comfortable there.
Take a look at my paintings: davidmarchant2.ca
The photo above shows the huge puddle outside my barn. If it would have just formed outside the barn that would have been alright, but unfortunately, inside the barn, the floor looks a lot like the outside. Over the years some cracks appeared on the cement pad that is the floor of my shop. Now water is seeping though those cracks forming a big puddle across the floor of my shop.
We have a root cellar under our house, during the winter, when I had to go in there I discovered a 7 inches pool of water covering the floor. I I decided to wait until spring, hoping the ground water level would diminish before pumping it out. I know that hasn’t happened and wonder if it ever will.
At this point all I can do is hope that once the snow has all melted around our place that we will have a dry period that will slow all of this water down. Of course there is still a lot of snow to melt on the mountain top above us.
You can see my paintings: davidmarchant2.ca
Actually that was not what I was dreaming of, but that is what we got. Every time we start making a little progress on melting the winter snow, Mother Nature comes along and gives us some more. In my mind (formed when I was a kid living in a more southern clime) I always associate Easter with daffodils, green grass, and colored eggs, but after living so long in the Robson Valley I really should have changed that perception. Oh well, it is what it is.
You can view my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
Here is Kona, forlorn, her head resting on the coffee table, looking us straight in the eye. She is wondering when are going to start doing some activity for her. Already this morning, we had given her a short walk, we had fed her, after which given her several snacks. That was followed by a 1.5km long walk through the woods on our loop trail. “Sure,” she is thinking, “but what about right now?”
You can view my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
Obviously, I live at a low-excitement level, because yesterday one of the most interesting things I saw was this clump of moss. I was walking across the plank bridge at the outflow of my pond when I spotted this spark of color. Upon closer inspection I saw that the clump of moss was made up of two separate species. The yellowish green bit in the middle is called False-Polytrichum (don’t confuse it with the real Polytrichum). The feather-like moss radiating from the edge of the clump has a more people-friendly name—Knight’s Plume.
I have always been fascinated by mosses and this time of year, before all the other plants explode in growth, they are thriving and more noticeable.
You can see my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
