RAIN

 

Yes, we finally got a bit of rain which has cooled things down and reduced the smoke.  This will be a brief reprieve as the temperatures are forecast to return to normal and higher in the next few days. 

We have completed the yard work with all the gravel spread and the flower bed soil in place.  I had to get another 1.5 cubic yards of gravel so rather than paying for a large dump truck to deliver that little bit I constructed a plywood box for the utility trailer and hauled it myself with the car.  It was loaded with a skid steer but I unloaded all 3,190 pounds myself.  We had to wait for the neighbour’s fence to be completed before we could finish up that side.  Once the fence was finished the neighbours helped us rake back their gravel so we could overlap their fabric and ours to help keep the weeds down.

Afternoon sun during our smoky days

Smoky evening sun

Four of these planes from Alberta were flying over our house constantly one day dropping water on the Nk'Mip fire just a few miles southeast of us.  They were dipping water from Vaseux Lake about two miles north of us so they made very swift round trips and they were very successful in their fire suppression efforts.

Saw this Praying Mantis on the bottom of the gas pump when I was refueling the car a couple days ago

Loading gravel in my new pickup truck

Emptying with a shovel into the wheelbarrow then Aileen raked it level

And we're finished!

Little swimming beach at the south end of Vaseux Lake five minute drive from our house

This neat cloud was overhead the other night on our walk the development.  I did a vertical panorama with my phone to capture more of the cloud.