Tomato Mystery

Strawbale House Update: Kitchen cabs are installed and awaiting hardware and counter-tops. The hole in the wall (in the kitchen) now makes sense, I hope, and can be seen in picture #1 as a flush pantry cabinet. Snow stops have been secured to the roof and today (in the rain) drainage trenching was done. Dusty and the mini-excavator also dug the greywater catch basin. This will keep me outside laying drainage pipe on nicer days and I can continue interior work, like painting, when the weather is bad. Most of the hard painting has been done... inside closets, under the stairs etc. Progress on the house is slowing slightly as I've taken on a new (part time) employment venture. I'm leaning how to install, service and repair dental equipment.... last week I helped set up a digital x-ray machine. Seems pretty basic so far, and everything comes with instructions. (I just have to learn how to follow instructions).

I'm loving horse ownership! But it sure takes up a lot of time. Lindero is settling in nicely and we're working on getting to really know each other. He is still young in horse years and has some maturing to do, but he's really intelligent, curious and willing to learn. (I just have to try to keep up) The two geldings are still trying to figure out where they stand with each other. Mikki is quite dominant and Lindero is willing to let that happen as long as it's respectful. However, he will not back down from a direct challenge, this creates some political imbalances in the horse realm. They can now share time in the same paddock for several hours amicably, but we're not sure if they can be trusted without supervision. Kari and I went on a more challenging trail ride during the week and Lindero did great. He also showed me a whole new over-drive gear that I didn't know he had. Wow! (Still has not broken gait, but maybe this was a sobreandando)

During our ride, there was a Fire Dept. call-out for a horse rescue. A horse had fallen down a steep embankment, (sans rider). All ended well, as a path was cut the rest of the way down the bank to the beach and the horse was led down.

Over the last couple of weeks, tomatoes left in our fruit bowl, (on the kitchen counter) have been gnawed by an unknown assailant... at first we suspected Ashley... then perhaps a voracious mouse. The mystery was finally solved when we offered a slice of tomato to each of our cats. Boo Radley readily accepted. The tomatoes have a new secret storage location.

Lindero CR

No time to blog in the last week as most of my spare time has been spent shoveling horse shit. Last weekend, Lindero CR arrived at his new home on Denman Island. From the moment he stepped off the trailer, he began stealing hearts. Once you get past his good looks, (a difficult task), his people friendly personality wins you over. I can tell he's going to be an amazing companion.
After a three day rest, it was time for a short ride and an introduction to some of the other island residents. He's met other horses, cows, dogs and horse eating pigs. His initial caution soon falters and curiosity gets the best of him and he just has to investigate.

Today, we went on our first trail ride with Kari and Mikolas. With (his older step-brother) Mikolas taking the lead, Lindero did very well on the narrow forest trail, (a very scary place for a young horse). Once out on the dirt road, it's gait,gait gait... he has an amazing amount of energy and never breaks gait.

The end of Summer nears

Ah, Labour Day weekend... after which, things can return to normal on a gulf island. On Hornby Island, there is an annual event called the "wave-off" in which the residents say goodbye to the last of the beloved tourists, who then can drive like mad across Denman Island (known as the "Hornby 500") only to line up yet again, for the Denman West Ferry. As the summer sun has inadvertently fried all brain activity, the tourist parade then lines up for the ferry in the middle of the road, effectively blocking anyone else that may endeavour to travel to or from the village. Apparently tourists have some natural aversion to pulling over to the shoulder of the road.

Labour day is also the traditional day for the Denman Island Blackberry Faire. The weather Gods were with us this year, sunny and in the high teens. My role was unofficial Parade Photographer and Burger flipper at the Fire fighters burger booth. More parade shots can be seen on the Island Equine site, or my Denman Island Picasa-web photo album. (Yes, that's Kari and Mikki in their first parade)

The Firefighters held their own during the annual slow-pitch game... squeaking out a narrow victory.

Blitzed down to Victoria to see #2 son perform during the Victoria Theatre Fringe Festival. The show was a Canadiana piece called "Thank you my Love, Goodbye". The cast was great! Some highlights from the Times Colonists 4-1/2 star review.... "If Thank-you were a Hollywood drama, it would be Academy Award-worthy.... the cast's acting abilities are brilliant. The chemistry between Robbie (Curt) and Mary is perfectly captured, their dialogue sharp and delivered with sentiment."

I Have to see a man about a horse!

A Lot can happen in a couple of weeks. The highlight was a short trip to Bonanza, Oregon to see a man about a horse. Some old frequent flier points came in handy earlier this month.... as I made my way to Curry Ranch. I was the guest of the most gracious host, Dr. Henry Curry and was able to spend some time (although not nearly enough) talking Peruvian Paso Horse with Henry and his trainer, Jaimie. Best of all I was introduced to Lindero, a very handsome gelding with pleasant ground manners and a smooth, ground covering gait. In a couple of weeks Lindero will become a Canadian citizen and a resident of Denman Island. This means that Mikki will have a trail partner that can keep up with him.

This weekend, there was a horse camp-out, trail ride, and soccer game on Denman Island. Mikki, (with Kari) and several other horses and riders took part in a trail ride on Saturday, which was followed by "happy hour", a pot luck dinner and impromptu line dancing. The next day we introduced the horses to soccer balls. Most of the horses had never experienced the game, but soon got the hang of it. Mikki was a natural and within minutes could "dribble" the ball the entire length of the field. His high leg motion is a definate advantage. He's now ready for some serious competition. Pictures of the weekend can be seen on the Island Equine site.

Strawbale Houe Update: Continuing on with the fir flooring upstairs. The gutters went on last week. (only pictures of horses this week)

Poking the bear

Smok'n hot, quite literally sums up our weather for the last two weeks. Forest fires in the interior have made for some interesting sunsets and very smoky air quality. In one of the pictures below (looking out the living room window) you can see that the mountains are no longer visible though the smoke.

I spent five days at The Haven for their "Come Alive" program. I'd have to say it made a notable impact on my life, (to say the least). I highly recommend it for those that wish to get to know themselves a little better. Thanks to the inspiring people I met there.

Straw Bale house update: The fir floor is nailed down in the upstairs "bonus room" (I still have the upper bedroom to do). It now needs to be sanded, stained, and finished, (a project for a rainy day) This entire room is backed up by generator power. It will contain TV and wireless router coverage for the multiple laptops in the house. Door painting and prepping for kitchen cabinets is on the agenda for the coming week.

Pictures this post are: (1) fir floor in the bonus room, (2+3) living room window detail from two directions, showing bales "hung" above the windows on the gable end.

It was a sad day for direct democracy last week when the HST petition was set aside pending court actions. I'm all for a VAT tax of sorts, (although not this one) but I think the latest blunder is a case of "poking the bear". People are pissed.

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.

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.

Finally, beach weather!

Straw Bale House Update: I'm officially done with the exterior plaster. The living room window details were a little tricky, but I'm happy with the outcome. We'll have the best sunset views on the island through these windows. Depending on the weather over the next couple of weeks I'll be working on interior plastering and kitchen cabinet prep or finishing the staining of the shingles on the gable ends.

When we first moved here there were very few raccoons on the island. The rumour was that they had all died off from some disease. Last week, I found the first evidence that they have found the building site.


The better weather has allowed for more horsey riding. Mikki loves to get out and spend some of that hot-blooded energy. (he can really motor) We generally switch off half way through the ride with one of us riding a bike. Mikki loves the bike and will follow close enough to touch your back with his nose. Today was his first ride to the beach. He'd never seen the ocean before and seaweed was a whole new culinary experience. Notice the front leg action of the Peruvian Paso, known a termino, where the feet are thrown to the side. I've learned the hard way not to ride beside him as he can throw gravel a fair distance. Kari's riding confidence level has increased dramatically over the last month. Through my own ignorance and stupidity this hasn't been an issue for me.
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Kari planted the two small raised beds I built a couple of months ago. We're looking forward to the first real harvest. She also bought a few fruit trees including cherry, apple, nectarine and Asian pears. The last couple of weekends, we've attacked the thistles which have taken over on the southern exposure of the property. It's a thorny business.

It's a big table

Straight Goods

Hey Denman Island made the travel section of The Straight.... see it here

The short strokes of outside plastering

Straw Bale House Update: The weather has been crappy on Denman Island this spring. Wetter and cooler than normal. (graph on right proves my point (white line is seasonal norm) Perfect weather for plastering! With the humidity high, the plaster takes longer to dry. This makes for a much stronger wall. Just a few slow details around the living room windows and the exterior will be finished (for now). Once that is done the walls can sit for a year and do what they will. Any small cracks that develop over the next three seasons will be repaired and covered with the colour coat, which will go on next spring. The colour coat is only 1/8" thick so the 2nd (brown) coat finishes 1/8" shy of window and door trims.
The first few mixes for the first coat were mixed in a mortar mixer, which the straw bale gurus highly recommend. The rental was expensive and it turned out that my trusty (and cheap) cement mixer does a great job, (it just takes a little longer). I run the mixer for about six hours a day, six days a week. Not what is it intended to do, but so far, so good, (knock on plaster).
I highly suggest buying one of these cheapie mixers if you are going to tackle plastering yourself.... (or without a large crew). I also suggest dedicated clothes and footwear, as it is even messier than you would imagine. (My "plaster shoes" used to be brown).

The company that supplied the hydraulic lime did the volume calculation for me when we ordered it. It's going to be very close! I think we'll end up within a single bag....(on the plus side, I hope).

It's Tax Freedom Day!

Totally Bizarre

Tomorrow, Columbia will elect the first world leader from the "Green Party".

Australia has begun international court proceedings against Japan for it's whaling practises.

You can watch live video feed 24/7 of Gulf Oil spewing out of the ocean floor.

It's a bizarre time in history.

odds and ends

It may finally be apparent that corporations are not the best stewards of the earth. Perhaps some of Obama's "land on the asteroid budget" could be diverted to some R&D to come up with a solution that would put BP in some other line of work. (It's got to be cheaper)

A couple of YT's that deserve a look-see.

from "why, that's delightful" So, why is she performing in her kitchen? Great loop-pedal action.




(from treehugger) The two best high-tech inventions morphed

iPad + Velcro from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

May Two-four

Ah, the May two-four weekend. The first real drinking weekend of the summer and the first weekend with long ferry line-ups. Lulled into complacency over the winter Denmanites are jolted awake on the May two-four by ferry line-ups of weekending hornby-ites. Leaving the island, it's back to the 20 minute rule.... being that the Hornby traffic arrives at the terminal 10-15 minutes before the ferry .... the astute Denmaner arrives at 2o minutes before and smirks as the Hornby 500 arrives at the top of the hill, loaded with kayaks, bikes and anything else that will fill, or can be bungied to their vehicle. Getting on the island.... all advantages are lost and residents must line-up with the Hawaiian shirted beemer drivers. All that remains is the thought that, yup we live here and they wish they did.

Straw Bale Building: Yes, still more plastering... Taking advantage of low or no wage challenged participants, (relatives) there is progress being made, The interior is about 75% done (plaster 2nd coat) and the exterior just over half done. Pictures of window details and exterior finish are in order.

A Little Nest Egg

Straw Bale Update: Plastering continues for the extended future. The second or "brown coat" is well under way for the interior. The window returns are looking great. Working my way counter-clockwise around the house, I'm now plastering in the living-room... the most visible room in the house..... so I'm hoping the plaster learning curve is complete.

The Humanure Compost has been sub-let to a master builder in her own right. This is a high-rise nest by any standard. She took advantage of the abundant hay resource directly below the nest. I can just squeeze the camera into the space between the roof and the nest.... and she has been a busy bird.

Mikki arrived, has made himself at home and is ruling the ranch, so to speak. He has turned out to be as friendly as the breeder claimed and is happy to follow you around the paddock whilst you scoop the poop. (he has also perfected the full barrow flip by grasping one handle and lifting) He has been ridden lightly so far and it's obvious that he loves to work. Kari has been kept very busy with the riding and feeding schedule... I think it's love.

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You may notice that the rants are few and far between lately.... yes, I've been busy. I Checked the news today to see that Mr. Spock as endorsed Captain Kirk for the position of Canada's Governor General and Barack wants to land on an asteroid... I can't begin to compete with that.

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On a sad note, our Auzzie Shepperd, Sienna died last week. She was a lovely dog and my work buddy for the last few years. The only dog I've known to have a sense of humour.... those that knew her, know what I'm talking about.

I'll Be Back..... Plastering

Straw House Bale House Update:

The drywall boarding is all done including priming. We have the interior back and the plastering is one week in. Plastering is highly labour intensive. By the time it's all done I'll be sporting Arnold bicepts. I'm guessing that I'm plastering 1200-1500 lbs per day.

A new addition to our family arrives on Denman in a couple of weeks.... "Mikolas" (Mikki) is a Peruvian Paso Gelding.... (He's the one on the bottom).

sun-rain-snow... oh no

Straw Bale House Update: The Humanure Hacienda is all done. We got a load of off-cuts of cedar to use as rot resistant walls. It worked out well and gave it a Daniel Boone log cabin look.
The drywall has taken a little longer than expected, but should be all primed and ready for paint next week. Quotes for doors and kitchen cabinets are in the works. The baseboards for the bale walls have been ripped and can be stained next week. The nice weather has dried things up enough to use the tractor for earth moving to establish the final grade. Our drainage is so good that traditional perimeter drainage around the house and garage are not necessary. We'll be directing water from the roof to either cistern water storage or into gravel trenches. Tyler was up for the week to give a hand setting up some perimeter deer fencing. Kari bought a few fruit trees, which have to be protected from the four-legged mooches that maraud the local gardens.
She bought Cherry (with five varietals grafted on a single root stock), apple, Asian apple and nectarine.
A small snow storm ended the week, but was washed away by the end of the day.
Curt and friends came up from Victoria to camp at Fillongley Park last week and lucked out with some great weather. They also got to experience the herring spawn and all the wild-life racket that comes with it. Between the sea lions, gulls and eagles it's beyond noisy.