BEAR TRACKS AND WILDFLOWERS

Spring has arrived in a rush.  We went from rather cool to downright pleasant almost overnight.  The past few days have been low to mid 20sC which is probably high 70sF.  That was a good enough excuse to take the RZR for a ride on Friday.  However, as noted below, it was a short ride.  It was great to get out in the peaceful forest just the same!

Not much happening on the house front these days.  They are still painting and finishing the inside but nothing happening on the deck and carport.  Apparently the framing crew has some Covid-19 related issues and are short staffed.  Our possession date has been moved to May 14 now.  No idea if that is guaranteed though.  Not having a fixed, cast in stone, date is creating problems for our planning.  Things such as appliance delivery, insurance and utility switch overs need a specific date.

Karen's dwarf nectarine

As I said we had a short ride.  At 2.8 kms (1.75 miles) from the car, we arrived at this narrow spot.  That is solid ice under the fringe of snow and those tracks that are close to the drop off  are from a narrower machine than ours.  It is dicey enough when the road is bare.  So that was a No Go.

So we turned around and found a nice warm spot for our lunch just back down the road.

Lots of ice on the road

After lunch we tried the next road below and found these big fresh bear tracks

We powered through some snow to access the lowest side road which proved to be snow free and fairly level once through the initial snow.  But, that was short lived as there were a couple large windfalls that blocked the road.  That was fine because there were lots of these Spring Beauties to admire.

Buttercups and Spring Beauties

Looking down from the flower meadow to Aileen on the left in the red coat and the RZR.  The road cut across a steep hillside.

Sagebrush Bluebell

Yellow Bell

Not sure what this is but I think it could be a Sagebrush Bluebell plant.  I thought the colours were great.  They don't look as good here as in person.

 

ANOTHER UPDATE

Some progress being made at our new house.  These were taken the day the driveway was poured.  Work continues on the inside finishing as well.

And the finished product

Karen and Aileen down at the packing house picking through cull apples to bring home to feed the critters.

Daffodils here at Karen's

Apricot blossom at Karen's

We had to go to Salmon Arm for an appointment one day and while waiting wandered around McGuire Lake Park where these tiny flowers were blooming in abundance.

Peach blossoms at Karen's

Plum blossoms at Karen's

One of Karen's Azaleas

 

PROGRESS REPORT

 

We closed on the new home March 18^th.  We supposedly take possession April 30.  Progress is being made with the drywall finisher being there most days.  Some of the outside finishing continues as well.  Since our unit was delivered, two more have arrived so the crews will be very busy there for several weeks.  Deer Park Estates is complete now as all 102 lots are occupied.

Aileen has been working in the gardens cleaning up and doing some planting.  I have been constructing new deer proof garden enclosures.  Nice to have something to do outside at this point.

I made a trip up to Salmon Arm to collect our mail so I could submit the income tax stuff.  I have started changing our address over to our place but will continue to have some mail go to the Salmon Arm address since it is still available.

I have picked up a couple of geocaches so far and as the snow retreats at the higher elevations hope to get more active.  Once we get possession of the house outside activities will have to compete with making it our home.

One of Karen's orchids against an abstract painting 

Those are all tiny individual orchid flowers against the same painting.

First daffodil at Karen's

Outside progress on the lot

Buttercups yesterday

An old dump rake just like the one I used to ride on when I was about six.  I had to jump down from the seat every time I had to step on the trip lever.

Lichen on a rock yesterday when I was climbing up the mountain.  The rock is over two feet in each direction.  From a distance I thought it was a cut log end.

The view over St. Andrew's golf course from the top.

More buttercups from yesterday

OUR BIG DAY ARRIVED TODAY!

 

Well, the big day finally arrived and our new house was delivered to the lot.  It seems like a long time since we began the process.  We were up and out the door early this morning suspecting the truckers might have moved in the dark to avoid the Kelowna rush hour traffic.  Sure enough, as we approached the park, one unit was parked just off the highway.  The other one was already on the lot but still hooked to the truck.  We enjoyed watching the whole process which turned out to be pretty slick.  The only downside was the strong NE wind that chilled us to the bone.

We moved back in to the motorhome this past Friday.  We will probably be in the motorhome until sometime in May.  The company is saying they think they need another six weeks to complete the finishing inside and the deck and carport.  We’ll see how close they are to their timing.  Somewhere along there we need to have our appliances delivered and we need to buy a couple of mattresses and box springs to go with our bed frames.  After we get moved in, we will figure out what other furnishings we need to look for.

I’m looking forward to flower season.  So far we’ve seen a few buttercups and this morning when Aileen walked up the river from the lot she saw a yellow bell (fritillary) bloom.  I hope to get the timing right for going up to the flower meadows we discovered last spring.

The front half arriving

The back half being lifted off the dolly

Then they put these rails out that the unit is slid in on.

Partway in

The roller setup.  The bottom rollers are for moving it to the side while the top ones are for moving it length way.  These are so effective that one person was able to move it length way and two pushed it in.  I got it on video with my phone but I haven't been able to download them to my computer.

Backing the front section in between the neighbour and the porta potty.

Starting to slide them in together

Protective coverings removed ready to mate.

WINTER IS PETERING OUT, I HOPE.

 

Our time continues to pass by with mostly same old, same old with the odd high spot once in a while.  It would be nice to get this pandemic over and done with!  I spend too much time at the computer these days playing with photos.  However, some of the results are quite satisfying.  I’ve done quite a few photos converted to pencil sketch look-a-likes in the computer.  Some of them print up very well on mat photo paper so I’ve been making some photo cards from them.

I’ve been posting photos daily to Facebook, sharing with my friends but have finally used up all the old photos I’ve recently edited.  I’ve taken a couple of road trips in the last couple of weeks.  The first was a loop down to Osoyoos then over to Keremeos and back to Penticton.  I explored several back roads I hadn’t been on before which is always fun and sometimes very rewarding photographically.  The second was a run up to Salmon Arm this past Monday for our mail.  First mail since January 6 and there were five Christmas cards and the start of our income tax receipts and statements.

Our house should have come off the production line at the factory yesterday and is scheduled to be delivered to the lot on March 15.  They have told us to expect another six weeks before it is ready for us to move in.  Then the real fun begins…

Gardening season is about to start for us.  I unloaded the RZR off the utility trailer then Karen and I went to Garden Works and filled the trailer with bags of sea soil, soil enhancer, steer manure and more.  We are going to rejuvenate her raised garden beds and plant some more blueberries in another spot.  A friend came yesterday and pruned the fruit trees.  The gardening duties will keep us busy until moving time now.

The bluffs above Vaseux Lake

The is the barn built in 1916 on the Haynes Ranch near Osoyoos, BC which is still in pretty good condition.

This old Haynes Ranch house was built back in the 1870's, I think.  John Haynes established the ranch in 1860 and at one time owned 22,000 acres.

Bighorn Sheep above Vaseux Lake

Ice on the bluffs above Vaseux Lake

On Vaseux Lake

Winter in the vineyards and orchards on the South Okanagan Valley

This nice Bighorn ram was across the lake from Kelowna on my Monday road trip

Cold weather and stiff winds created come masterpieces along the east shore of Skaha Lake just south of Penticton, BC.

Here's a self portrait on me that I converted to a pencil sketch in the computer

The ice is starting to melt in Penticton Creek

On our walk after supper last night.  If you look closely you can see Aileen in the upper left.

By the time we got home, it was mostly melted but it sure came down for a few minutes!