Paul's Head Esplodes

Last weekend, Jo-Anne and I drove up to Kaslo for their Seedy Sunday. Lots of heritage growers -- we came back with a whack of Doukhobour bush beans, among other things. I took a picture of Jo-Anne and Billie with their backs to Kootenay Lake and the Columbia mountains in the background.

An aside -- I passed out a bunch of our beekeeping supplies cards to folks there, and the first was very pleased to get one. At the next booth, I bought some stuff and told her that if she was trying to run an orchard she might want to talk to us at some point. She took the card and looked confused. "Really?" "Sure," I said. "It kind of goes hand-in-hand with what you're doing." "You REALLY think so?"  she says. I look at the card. Only the first card of the stack we grabbed was for beekeeping. The rest were for Jo-Anne's counselling practice. I had to run around explaining this to all the people I'd handed her cards to, doing damage control.

I told this to Mom just now, and when she finished laughing she said, "Kaslo? That's where Uncle Dan's mine was." So I googled Armstead and Kaslo while we were talking and got 2100 hits.

As far as I can tell, Dan Armstead and his brother "The Colonel" ran the Utica Silver and Lead Mine in Kaslo. They lived in the old Kaslo hotel I stood with my back to when I took the picture of Jo-Anne and Billie. They sent the ore by rail across the mountains through Sandon, an abondoned mining town which, coincidentally, Mom and I visited last year. At New Denver it continued by rail down the Slocan Valley to the Columbia, which it followed down to the States.

In the Slocan, the old rail line is now a path which runs alongside Rebecca and Dean's farm -- they walk the dog on it every day. In Ootischenia, the old rail line is now Bridgeview Road, which is our street. The Doukhobour village of which our house was the center would have been much larger than just our current lot; the railroad would have gone right through it. The railroad right-of-way is on our title.

So Dan made his money on silver ore which ran through this property 60 years ago. That's where Aunt Miriam got her money, which she passed along to us, which let me buy the house in Victoria, which let me buy this place... which the ore ran through.

Boom. My head just esplode.

Jo-Anne here. Thought I'd post a picture of the quilt I made in January after the Christmas rush.

It's another Kaffe Fassett design, and I've had the material ready to go for a few years. Nice to have it done, and it will hang in the livingroom.

One of the seed packets we bought at the Kaslo Seedy Sunday was thyme, which I planted on Tuesday-- the girl selling told me that was the new moon and the best time to plant. Well, they were up in only three days, so there might just be something to that...

I've also ordered lots of veggie and herb seeds from the Cottage Gardener in southern Ontario, which specializes in organic heritage seed, and from Seeds of Victoria, which is Carolyn Harriot's line at the Garden Path. I've used Carolyn's seed before and the germination rate is terrific. Now I just have to figure out where I'm going to start all these plants.

I've also been tinkering with Mother Earth News' online garden planning tool. You can see what I've come up with here: http://gardenplanner.motherearthnews.com/garden-plan.aspx?p=231578. It's very cool-- it lets you plot your garden onto a graph, then click and fill in with veggies, flowers, and herbs. You can choose the variety from a drop-down list, and it then tells you how many plants per row or block you need. It uses your postal code to also determine frost free dates, and with each plant added to the plot, a list is generated showing when you need to sow, transplant, and harvest for your zone. You can even plan for succession crops (e.g., sowing leeks where the peas were when they're finished), and if you click on a given month it will show you what will be in the ground at that time. Finally-- and the big reason I wanted to try it-- is that it remembers plans for up to five years and will come up with a warning (which fades over five years) if you try to plant the same family in the same place. Because of using this, I've realized I don't have enough room in the lasagna garden for perennials like asparagus, artichoke, and strawberries, so they'll have to go elsewhere. I also don't have room for tomatoes and peppers but locals say they do better in the greenhouse anyway. What a great use of technology!

House update: drywall is almost finished, should be some time next week. I've finally decided on paint colours. Living in the workshop is starting to get on my nerves-- but then I remind myself that it is most certainly a first world problem, and one I can easily put up with. Many people would be more than happy to call this garage home!

   

So lately we've been hearing the spooky sound of coyotes yipping and wailing at night. Back in the early '80's when I lived way out in the boonies with my ex-husband, northeast of nowhere in an area known as Blackwater, we heard coyotes all the time. The cowboys who helped run our cattle told me under no uncertain terms it was pronounced 'kai-yoot', not 'kai-yotee'. That was for city folk and Americans, who tended to be lumped together for some reason. Anyway, back then we had a wonderful dog, who we never worried about around the coyotes. And I never worried about my own safety around them either... just enjoyed their singing under the stars.

But it seems something has happened to the Canadian coyote in the intervening decades. Maybe it's rising unemployment, a sense of alienation, or pack mentality, I don't know. What I do know is they've got a bad reputation. Dogs, cats, and gerbils disappear and people blame the coyotes. There are rumours of children and old folks being attacked. People walk quickly, afraid of being perceived as lame or weak. Even Paul (wildlife and animal lover that he is) glanced nervously over his shoulder on our first evening family walk after the coyotes showed up. I saw one down at a neighbours' a few weeks ago; he was leaning up against a fence, smoking a cigarette and checking out the chicks in the coop. We said 'hey' to each other and I continued on my way. Didn't seem so bad to me-- maybe a little sad and lost under all the bravado.

Kidding aside, we try to keep the cat in earlier in the evening, and Billie's after-dark pee-breaks are definitely supervised. It certainly hasn't deterred the two of them from wanting to do the evening stroll. Here's a picture of them lined up at the door, waiting:                                                          

Our walks are pretty hilarious. With Paul leading Billie on leash, we start out, and soon Cassius appears behind us. At certain points along the route (always the same) Billie lies down on the road and waits. Ice, snow, mud, doesn't matter. Which means Paul and I stand there and wait as well, while the cat takes his sweet time (as only cats can do) to sashay on up close to Billie. Sooner or later Billie twitches and then Cassius takes off (sometimes leaping over her)-- at which point Paul and Billie run like mad after the cat. Then Cassius darts off the street into a yard, and the whole routine starts over. It's pretty funny watching a 50 year old man running down the street in the dark with a dog, chasing a cat, and usually laughing his head off. I've asked him if he does it when I'm not along for the walk-- silly question, of course he does.

Here are some pictures of the progress on the house. Remember the upstairs hallway?                           

Here it is as of this week. New windows have been installed throughout the upstairs.

Here's a shot looking back the other way, toward the master suite and the new stairs.

Here is the kitchen, and below, the dining area to the left. I absolutely adore the light in the main living area. I am still obsessing over paint colours, and time is ticking away, as you can see. We should be ready in about ten days, and one of the carpenters and I will tackle painting while Paul works.

Speaking of which... for those who don't know, Paul has been a very busy boy. He's been hired on as a temp with Selkirk College, meaning he fills in at any of the campuses in Castlegar, Trail, or Nelson. They're booking him up fast-- right now he's working mornings in Trail, then coming home to work on the beekeeping business... which is going great guns! He drove across the border last week and picked up our first order of equipment (which is sitting in our 'livingroom' here in the workshop... this place is doing triple duty for us at this point), and we have customers! Check out our website at www.kootenaybeekeeping.com. Our byline as of today: "Kootenay Beekeeping Supplies: Taking Care of Buzziness since 2012".

Sigh. Stay tuned, there's plenty more where that came from...