Hot on the trail

Earlier in the month, Kari and Mikki went camping on a back-country horseman trail-ride. It's not so much camping, as it is a good excuse to eat and drink well, have some fun and music and, oh ya, do some trail riding. Pictures of the outing can be seen on the Denman Horse Club's website by clicking HERE. (and then view slide-show.) There could be a second pony in our future, as this looks like way too much fun to miss out on. Mikki has never had to cross any water and since this was a minor issue on the trail ride, Kari thought it prudent to acclimate him to water via the ocean. This is one of those times that she offers to let me ride... (whenever there is potential for loss of life or debilitating injury). After much fuss (and some exciting rodeo action) He decided that the ocean was rather interesting and potentially tasty. Next time, we'll try to get his toes in.

The kitchen is all ready for cabinets. They are being built on the island and and should be ready to install mid August. Installation of the rustic fir floors (upstairs), is well underway. It has proven to be a challenge as local fir does pretty much what it wants with regard to straightness (or lack thereof). Pictures to follow.

Every other Friday afternoon, the "Mystery Beach Happy Hour" takes place on Denman Island, around four-ish. The beach where "happy hour" takes place is a mystery until just a few days in advance. Each time it is held at a different beach and has grown to about thirty people, all of whom show up with appetizers and beverage of their choice. There are many rules if one wants to participate, such as:

-You should only show up if you want to

-You can leave when you feel like it

-Invite someone along if the mood strikes you

-Swimming is optional

-You don't have to remember the rules.

Heat Wave

We had a bit of a heat wave last week. I took a couple of days off and traveled with kari (business trip) to Port McNeill and Alert Bay. Alert Bay is quite an interesting place with lots of history. It's a very walkable town/island with a beautiful boardwalk that runs the entire length of the village. This picture is of the old "residential school".

What do you do when you're a fat, black cat on a scorching hot day? Boo Radley's solution: Find a nice cool, shady patch of daisies, expose as much surface area as possible, get the white side up and catch a few winks.

It's been a while since I took a picture of the view side of the house. This shot shows the shop on the right and the pumphouse on the left. There's a lot of roof lines on this house, but somehow it all works. Very attractive lines, in my opinion.

arbutuspliff

While Curt's in the Okanagan working, he's making good use of his time off to do some recording..... using only a laptop.

Finding Balance by arbutuspliff

The Truth be Told

The July 1st long weekend was kicked off Thursday with a (mini) parade of sorts held by the Denman-Hornby Equine Club, (of which we're members). Horses and people donned with Canadiana paraphernalia Walked from the Bistro down the ferry hill to welcome the 11:00 sailing of the Quinitsa. Only on Denman Island! Kari is not yet brave enough to ride Mikki in an event like this, but I'm sure next year she'll have worked up the courage. We bundled up in our polar fleece and carried the banner instead, which seemed like a good idea until it was time to walk back up the hill. note: horses prefer to walk quite quickly uphill and if in front of them.... you must move quicker still.

Saturday, I wandered over to Hornby Island to check out their home and garden show. It gave me a chance to see a couple of straw bale houses in different stages of construction. One where the leftover bales from our construction will be put to good use. The highlight for me was this amazing fireplace mantle that perfectly replicated the sandstone shoreline that can be seen on many of the gulf islands. I'd love to know how they did it.


The forecast was sketchy but the Fire Dept. pulled off yet another warm, (although overcast) Pancake Breakfast on Sunday. Prediction is that we set another record.... with final numbers to be tallied, it looks like more than half the island turned out.

I saw on the news that there's a super-tanker in the gulf trying to suck up huge amounts of oil. I wondered just how environmentally friendly that was. It turns out that just 15 of the worlds largest cargo ships spew as much pollution into our air as all the cars in the world put together. Hard to believe, but check it out here.

Strawbale house Update: The truth Window is in. Kari came across the perfect thing for a truth window in an antique store in Courtenay. It was part of something much bigger (I know not what) but I ripped it down to size and it's a great feature. FYI: It's traditional to have some sort of window that reveals the construction of the home. This one is in our dining room.