FIRE TO THE NORTH AND FIRE TO THE SOUTH

Richard and Georgia, our son and granddaughter went home to Victoria this morning after spending eleven days with us.  Richard had offered to help with things around the house so I took him up on it and worked him hard.  He helped assemble a BBQ first off then a storage shed.  With our continued high temperatures the gravel spreading and hauling with a wheelbarrow was grueling work.  Richard moved a large number of rocks as well since that is what contains the flower bed soil from spilling out.  The last bit of gravel couldn't be placed on the west side as my neighbour is having a fence built and I need to wait for it to be finished before doing that.

Other than these record shots posted herein, I haven't done any photography.  Too hot, then too smoky and too busy.  The smoke got worse today with large chunks of ash floating in with it.   Richard and I went to Salmon Arm yesterday for another load of stuff from storage and it was smoky the whole way.

Three hours after the Thomas Creek fire north of us started on July 11

Thomas Creek fire five hours after starting.  This photo was taken a couple of miles north of us.

Thomas Creek fire July 14

The start of the Nk'Mip Fire on the left and the main smoke is coming from Washington State.   This was July 19

The Nk'Mip fire from in front of the town hall in Oliver, BC July 19

Nk'Mip fire July 19.  That's a four engine water bomber that little speck top left.  Can you see it?

Further south on the Nk'Mip fire you can see some retardant being dropped.

Oliver town hall July 19 with Washington State smoke in the background

Looking north up Hwy 97 through Oliver July 19.  That is Washington State smoke again.

Just up the road from us yesterday and it is worse today.

Rays in the smoke last night

If you click on the image to make it larger, you can see our location marked with an X.

The Oliver Wine Village, purported to be the first in Canada.  This is a pano with my phone showing the whole site.  I think there are to be twenty wineries installed upon completion.  Six or seven open so far.

If you look through the center, you can see McIntyre Bluff in the distance.  Our house is this side of the bluff so not far to the wine village.

The front yard finally raked level awaiting the landscape fabric

Fabric applied

Sparkle rock delivered

Two loads of paving stones hauled from Penticton with my little trailer

Stones in place

Flower bed soil delivered and raked

Aileen and me on an evening walk up the river a while back

 

 

 

WE WENT FOR A DRIVE THIS MORNING JUST SOUTH OF OLIVER

 These photos were all taken on the east side of the Okanagan River south of Oliver.

Looking to the north we see part of the little town of Oliver and in the distance on the right is McIntyre Bluff.  Our house is just this side of the bluff.

Oliver has declared itself the Wine Capital of Canada and there certainly are lots of vineyards to support that.  There are numerous wineries throughout the area.

Here's the Thing Vineyards

There are many fruit tree orchards among the vineyards

Where I was walking on the hillside above the vineyards was prime cactus habitat.  All those lumpy things in this photo are cactus so you can see that it was difficult getting around!

WE SPIED A TURTLE FROM THE HOUSE WINDOW

 

Purple Loosestrife, a noxious imported weed.  Very pretty but it crowds out other wetland species.  These plants are growing on an island in the river adjoining our park.

Male Spotted Towhee singing his heart out

One of many bluffs across the valley from us

Western Painted Turtle

A day or two after our record breaking high temperatures, I was walking up the street to pick a few apricots when I noticed this petunia growing in the crack between the cement curbing and the asphalt.  Amazing!

SUNDAY AFTERNOON DRIVE

Another day that is too hot to do much outside so we went for a drive through the vineyards east and south of Oliver, BC.  We are in smoke season so now we live in the Smokanagan.

Some neat evening rays over our house a few nights ago

McIntyre Bluff

The Sumac is looking pretty

This field of mixed gardening was out behind a fruit stand I stopped at the other day, they grow quite a bit of their own produce.

Vineyards south of Oliver

It's cherry time