Wildlife

Can you spot the deer in this picture? This is the same deer taken from two different positions about 5 feet apart. Wildlife has such amazing camouflage. These pics were taken about 2 blocks from our new home. Being used to Vancouver Island deer, I thought this was a large one, as on the island, the big ones are roughly German Shepherd sized and viewed as large rodents. Daryl reports that this is only a medium sized three point Mule deer buck, called a "mulie" (As in Julie) aptly named due to it's large ears. Sadly, we noticed a tin can stuck on it's back hoof, looking like a cat food tin. While driving away, Karen stated: "hopefully it's tetanus shots are up to date...." while Daryl commented:"hopefully it lives to grow another tine so I can legally shoot it next fall." Sigh....... (sorry everyone, but our freezer is full of deer, elk, moose and grouse. Mmmmmm delicious!)

NECK-AGILITY

So Daryl and I could not get the "Elf Yourself" cards to work. But, for the first time ever, I am going to try to put a video on the blog. When it was sent to me, the video was called the "wooden Spoon challenge." I don't know if I needed to put that in for legal reasons,and this work is not mine or any of my friends, as they are not that dumb...... I laughed out loud when I watched this.

FIRE!!!!!

We got a call this morning from Dan (Daryl's brother) to see if we wanted to get a Christmas tree and have a fire in the bush with friends. Since we are currently living in our trailer, with very little room, we said "no" to the Christmas tree but "yes" to the afternoon in the woods. It was a great day, minus nine, lots of sun and beautiful scenery. In this part of B.C, one can just randomly go out and cut a tree down, in fact while we were by the fire, three other vehicles ,(trucks for you city boys ) drove by with trees in the back, all found on backroads outside of town (which is no more than 5-15 minutes away). Yes...... that's how we do it in "the brook" teeheee.... if Julee and Chris can call kerrisdale "the dale" then we can call it "the brook" haha. We have heard a few refer to Cranbrook as "cranny" which makes me giggle but I think "the Brook" sounds a liuttle less redneck. Here are a few shots and yes, the fire is as big as it looks (taken on our phone because Kar forgot the camera again). Oh by the way, we have closed a deal on our new home. Pictures to follow....

A Visit

Chris and Julee came out for one final visit while we still live in Sooke. It was lovely to see them and to finally meet Jonathon and to see Sam again. We went to Sea Parc Req centre and went swimming, where there is lots of stuff for younger kids to do in the smaller wading pool. Here are several "humourous" pictures of Julee and I in our hot tub, in the pouring rain, hence the hats. I was trying to use the "delayed timer" to take the "portrait" but I kept messing up and the picture kept being taken too quickly. hmmmmm.... yes...... the final shot is the "best" one. Sadly, I forgot to actually take any pictures of Sam, Jonathon or Chris....sigh.

THE BIG MOVE IS COMING SOON!!!!!!

SAM STEELE: A Cranbrook Mascot (Does anyone know who this guy is? go to: http://www.samsteeledays.org/

Our big move to Cranbrook will happen November 28th so I am busy packing, cleaning and saying goodbye to friends and sigh, my garden. How Sad. The plants all look terribly sad and depressed right now, probably because they are thinking about how terrible it will be when I leave...... then again, maybe they look that way because it's been torrentially down-pouring for the last 9 days, with winds of 30-60 km's/hour and absolutely no sun.

On a happier note, Cranbrook is officially Canada's "sunniest city" as per the weather network website, and hey, couln't we all do with a little less seasonal affective disorder? Anyone? ....anyone who lives on the west coast and doesn't see the sun for 7 months? This happy piece of information made me think of a few pics that Shayla and I took when the garden was producing so here are a few old shots. Everything in the salad came out of the garden except the peppers, it's too wet and cold here to grow those. Here is the "most special carrot" from the garden this year, as per Shayla, as it looks like a heart. About a month later, as it was lying on top of the microwave all shrivelled and dehydrated, it looked a little "less special." I thought of the movie: "The Grinch who stole Christmas" as it kept shrivelling.....

Daryl has found us a spot at the Fort Steele "R.V Resort" (read as "redneck trailer park") where we will stay until we can find a nice home to move into. Between us, we have moved 14 times in the last 10 years, so really, we are both done with it. No more after this one. http://www.fortsteele.com/ shows you the park where we will stay and http://www.fortsteele.ca/ explains the big tourist festival they have every summer in conjunction with Sam Steele Days.

For more info on Cranbrook and it's surrounding beauty (and it truthfully is a gorgeous place to live if you love the outdoors) go to http://www.hellobc.com/ and in the search engine; type in "Cranbrook"

Ready for Hallowe'en

As the kids will be with their mother this Halloween, Karen will be taking the dogs out this year with our neighbour Tanya and her dog Sabie and child Austin. I (Karen) saw these at the store while buying dog food and, being so close to Halloween, they were less than 4 dollars each, so I couldn't resist. I didn't have much choice, as I guess most people with dogs this big don't dress them up...... The makers of these costumes are obviously appealing to people who own miniature dogs (which Daryl would describe as "rats" or as "puntable"..... as in what you do to a football).

Anyway, I saw this black tank-top (a.k.a a "wife beater" that's such a terrible expression but it does look rather trailer-park-ish)) in Logan's size and I thought: "I'm kind of a big deal" sums up exactly what Logan thinks he is. And of course our little angel is yes, being an angel. We'll see how long the wings last, my guess is that Logan will have them ripped off before we get to the end of the block.

SOLD!!!!!!!

Today a deal was finally struck! All conditions have been lifted and we have officially sold our house. We can now put an offer in on a house in Cranbrook. Yeah! For posterity, I took a picture of the sign. Daryl is currently living in Cranbrook at his brother's and looking there for our new place, as well as hunting. Between the 4 hunters, they have got 2 elk and a moose, so we won't have to worry about meat this winter. I put in my resignation letter for VGH emergency a few days ago. YES!!!!!!! We will be moving late November, just in time for Christmas!

FOR SALE

We put the house on the market about a week ago. If anybody wants to see our home, go to http://www.mls.ca/ mls#268480. The pictures were done by a photographer hired by"DFH" the company we are selling through. Sadly, they did not post any pictures of my garden or the hot tub which I found a bit strange as I would think those would be BIG selling features. But they are mentioned at least. Anyway, we hope it will sell quickly this time, we have had 8 showings so far.

Cleaning Up for the Move

We recently put our house up for sale. Daryl is already in Cranbrook looking for work. Karen will be joining him early December once her contract with VIHA (health authority) is finished. We recently bought a steam cleaner for the carpets as with two large dogs, the kids... yes..... and Karen (a.k.a "spilly-nilly") we found that last time the house was on the market we were calling the carpet cleaners too frequently. I (Karen) figure the thing has almost paid for itself.

Here is Shayla who loved cleaning the carpets and was overheard to be saying: "I"m going to buy one of these things when I grow up!" It IS highly satisfying to see the "clean line" in the carpet as all the brown crud gets steamed up. Julee, you would Love this! You don't even realize how dirty the carpet is, and then you start the machine up, and suddenly there is a huge clean carpet line in the middle of what you can now see as ICK!!!! ......so satisfying!!!!! Look how dirty the water is in the container in the picture! and our carpets didn't even look too bad this time.

ZIP-LINE ADVENTURE!

While Daryl's friends from Halifax were staying with us, they treated our family to an evening of ziplining at a business called "Adrenaline" which is halfway between Sooke and Victoria. They gave us a short course on safe zipping, helped us into our harnesses, and took us 5 kilometres up into the bush in their ATV's. Once you start the first zip line, you must finish it, as you zip from tree top to tree top. the lowest zipline was 50 feet in the air, so it was a bit of a struggle for Karen as she is "mildly" afraid of heights. (no time like the present to deal with your issues, eh?) Here are some action shots.

The two shots of Karen are on the same zipline, which is 1 kilometre long. The shot of Daryl is on the fastest zipline, where an adult will zip about 65 km's an hour (which is why he is so blurry.... it has nothing to do with the fact that Karen can't work the camera)

BBQ Salmon Recipe

Recently, Daryl's friends from Halifax stayed with us for a week while they were looking for a place to live, as they are being transferred back to Victoria. Daryl made his Famous "Barbecue Salmon Recipe" which is always a crowd pleaser, unless you're Chris, and then it might make you throw up (hahah.... sorry Chris, just teasing). It's very simple and delicious! It always comes out moist, falls off the bone and tastes splendiferous (Daryl's favorite adjective)

BBQ Salmon

1 raw salmon

1 small onion

Dill (fresh or the stuff from the baking isle is fine)

Mayonaisse (or miracle whip is fine)

tinfoil (not for consumption)

1. Cut salmon lengthwise

2. smear insides with mayo generously

3.spread layer of onions on mayo (chopped or ringed or whatever)

4.sprinkle dill to taste (the more the better)

5. Wrap in tinfoil

6.Bbq on medium high for 10 minutes both sides, then 5 minutes both sides, regardless of the size of salmon this seems to be the majic amount of cooking time.

Unfortunately, we got so excited about the cooking of the salmon, we forgot to take pictures WHILE we were making it, but we do have pics of the ingredients and the finished product.

Business Trip

Daryl had to go to Halifax for work this last week and so Karen decided to accompany him to visit her parents. Karen and Valerie spent three days gardening, of which we have no photographic evidence.... When Daryl finished at the office, he would come to mom and dad's. We would work a bit in the yard and then have supper (when it got too dark to work). Everyone enjoyed their time together. This was the first time Daryl had met John and Val. Do any of the Herring children remember the dish-scrubby holder? (I had to take a picture of it for posterity

Garage Into Shop

Daryl has been working hard turning the garage into his new shop area. He is building a bench designed by Norm Abrams (New Yankee Workshop) and has been hanging shelves for his tools and setting all of his stuff up. Gavin has also been helping Daryl. Here, he is using the drill press to drill holes into a 2x2 to hang files on the wall. Also, here is a shot of Daryl working on his bench. It has been tricky, as the cement floor is not even (as it used to be a carport and therefore tilts away from the house) and so alterations must be made to the plans in order for the bench to be level and plumb.

A Visit from Papa and Nana!!

Last week, Daryl's mom, stepdad and little dog sugar came for a visit from Cranbrook. Thankfully the weather was nice and sunny, so we had the opportunity to do lots of outdoor activities. One day, we went to the potholes with Nana's kayak, and to swim. The next day, Shayla and Nana cooked a chocolate marshmellow and walnut cake. Delicious! The children were very happy bacause they were "allowed" (by Nana of course) to put sprinkles on their ice-cream, which I was told was "much better" than regular ice-cream. We had a wonderful visit and hope to see them again very soon. Here are some photo's from the visit.

More Camping

This long weekend we went camping with the kids and the dogs. Good friends of ours also had reservations in the same campground so we spent some time with them as well. We had great weather all weekend and the kids were able to get out the water guns, go to the beach and ride their skateboards and bikes.

Shayla's First Sewing Experience

Here is a photo of the result of Shayla's first sewing experience. Shayla and I made a purse together a few weeks ago, with Shayla doing most of the work including operating the sewing machine. All I did was set her up, show her how to pin the pieces together and give a bit of help guiding the fabric through the machine. She also attached the Ribbon shoulder strap. The sparkly shapes are stickers which she added when the sewing was done. Well done Shayla! I'm very proud of you!!

New Season

We started the new camping season about 6 weeks ago and now have been out twice since the new year. It started out nice.... the birds were singing and the sun was shining, but then we had a bit of an unpredictable day. We experienced rain, snow, hail and a crazy amount of wind all within one afternoon. When it finally calmed down for the evening, it was sunny again. The above photos are all taken during that day. We ate in the trailer for the first time ever due to the weather and spent some time inside playing games and hanging out with the dogs.

We're Moving! (hopefully)

Since we are finally finished our renovations/six weeks of painting, we have put our house on the market! Even though the market is slower than it was 8-9 months ago, we hope our new paint and updates such as flooring and lighting will help us move the house quickly. Out realtors are a sister team named Amber and Rainy (hippy parents anyone!?!?) who seem to be very motivated and whom we work well with thankfully because Logan decided to eat the heel off of one of Ambers shoes the day we all met. We are looking to move to a slightly bigger house, so the kids can have their own bedrooms, and we can have more space in the kitchen and living room. Here's a shot of us putting up the sign today!

More Home Improvements

We've lived on Marathon Lane for about 1.5 years, and we keep saying that we will "get around" to fixing things up. We have accomplished a lot: turning a carport into a garage, tearing up deer fences, re-building the garden and fence, changing the gardens around, putting in a new tub and surround, filled in a huge hole in our patio, upgraded all the windows..... but we decided that now it was time to start working on the inside.

Over the last 6 weeks we have layed new flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms, nothing crazy right now, just something to cover up the ugly orange, yellow and gold from 1982. We also have painted the entire interior of the house including all of the trim (everything was yellow). We used "stone effects" to inexpensively change the counter top. We also pulled down the old monstrosity in the backyard down. Man! That was a safety hazard! Enjoy the photos.