Backyard Progress

We've had strangely warm weather this fall. Freakish even. The grass is still green. That is a first in my memory.

The upside is that the ground thawed enough for Chris to finish off the last garden bed and fill it with earth. This means that in the spring we'll be ready to plant our veggies in the 3 new garden beds. We, Chris and I, have big plans for the veggies we want to plant.

It just started to snow when I took the photo, but trust me the grass is still green under that snow. The dog fence proved somewhat ineffective. Walker pulled a Houdini on me last week. I'm still not sure how he got out of the rest of the yard, I did figure out how he got out of the dog yard. He simply bullied his way out through one of the ill plugged gaps. We've since remedied that and he's bashed his big head against the fence to no avail. Success!

willow fence, dastardly dogs and migrating swans

Today we had to beef up the willow fence because the dogs were not at all deterred by it and walked right through to do their business on the lawn. Sigh. After another day of weaving willow they are trapped in their yard, as we intended.

Come the spring we plan to plant raspberries and sweet peas along the fence.

As we've been working swans have been flying by on their way south. Chris called to one flock which circled around to see who was talking. They are so beautiful in flight.

Living Willow Fence

For years we've been talking about building a living willow fence in the backyard to keep the dogs in their part of the yard. After the massive undertaking to strip and relay the bones of the back yard we finally had the conditions in place. Today we collected lots of long straight willow from our area and started the fence. We ran out of willow and energy, but really do want to get it done before winter sets in too hard.

The other photo is our cat, Mruphy about a story and a half up a tree about to leap onto our roof.

Aniversary Sweater

So, I mentioned in an earlier post that the traditional gift for the 7th anniversary is WOOL. Yes, WOOL. This was very rewarding for both of us. We bought a new wool blanket for our bed made in Canada with Saltspring Island wool. We got socks, hats, raw fleece and roving. Well, the raw fleece and roving is really for me as I enjoy making it into yarn and things.

Once I figured out the gravity of the 7th anniversary to a wool loving woman I decided that Chris really deserved another sweater. Due to the boyfriend sweater curse and a certain amount of laziness and lack of follow through, Chris has only ever recieved one sweater from me. He has been asking for a handspun hand knit sweater for som time. Less than a month after our anniversary it was complete. Here it is:

Got to Get Me Moose Boy

The boys are off in the Yukon wilderness getting this year's moose. I hope. It was all a little dubious when I saw the amount of food and booze. I think they are going to hole up in the cabin eating and drinking. We did manage to eat almost all of our third of last year's moose. We also gave some to friends so I wasn't just us being extreme carnivores.

In other news the old, deaf dog has turned into a bit of a Houdini. I'm not sure how he did it but yesterday he got out of the yard - he was wating for me when I got back and I'd never have known but for the telephone call asking me to come and get the nice black lab that was on a neigbour's deck looking for food. Today my neighbours saw me cycling on 2nd ave and waved me down to say Walker (the old deaf dog) was out and about in the 'hood again. I'd swear that he opened the gate himself, or had someone help him... I've rolled a bolder in front of one gate and the other gate has a huge plank in front of it now. He was still in the yard when I got back from work. Here's hoping.

Boot Camp

Dude. Have you ever done boot camp? Yesterday was boot camp, today was interval core challenge. I am so tired and worn out it isn't funny. We recently decided that fitness related expenses are money no object kinda things. That means that we don't look at how much it costs, just whether it works. Over the summer we did an outdoor version of boot camp in the elementary school playground. That was a blast! This time as winter closes in on us we are indoors. If you've never tried it, do. It will kick your butt.

Saltspring Kayak

We are back to the daily grind now, but thinking back on our trip in idle moments is wonderful. I'd never kayaked before, neither had the dear husband. The first 2 days were about getting sorted out, the last day we were able to relax and enjoy. I was a courageous soul and swam 3 times during the trip. It was refreshing to say the least.

We journeyed around the island, making little side hops including Wallace Island Provincial Park . I am so used to the vast wilderness in the Yukon, it was strange to me to be camping where I could hear other campers snores and whispers.

It was also great to see our friends again and kayak with them. Photos will be posted!