Guess What....Company Again! Week 33

    Sunday seems the day for visitors. It was overcast and on the cool side so I hadn't been in a hurry to get dressed, as if I ever am, when I looked up from the computer screen to see a boat almost at the dock.We both rushed to put on "company clothes", check our hair. I let Mike go down to greet them while I picked up remnants of breakfast and put on another pot of coffee.

   Brian and Steve are RCMP officers out of Prince Rupert. During the summer months they make occasional tours of the lodges operating in Haida Gwaii. This was the first trip of the year and they had just dropped in to see how our winter had been.

    There are 3 men aboard the p/v "Lindsay", but the captain stayed behind, catching up on paper work I think they said. Coffee, cake and cookies again, glad I keep goodies in the freezer for times like this.
An hour seems the standard amount of time for these get togethers. An invitation to dinner if they were spending another night anchored in Tingley Bay but the seas were calm and they headed out later in the day.

                                           We really like their  "go fast" boat.

                                        We are still experiencing those low spring tides.

Weather permitting I walk the beach. Often I come across something interesting enough to add to my "beach tray" or at least take a picture of it.

   Whatever this is I don't think it was alive. It was still pliable and felt very much like jello, although it didn't wiggle and jiggle.

          This is what the deer come down to the beach to eat. When the seaweed is this fresh it actually
          looks quite edible.

                                                           "Well, where do I start?"

                              Just in case you were wondering, the Easter bunny did visit the OP.

Till next week from the "Outpost"
Heather & Mike

Never a Dull Moment....Week 32

I'm thinking I may actually have to  get dressed these days. I was still enjoying my morning coffees when I said to Mike, “Do you hear that?” Seconds later a helicopter was right out front and heading for the upper heli pad. Do I run and get dressed or get the camera and head outside? The camera won, although I did take a quick look to see how scary the bed head hair looked. Presentable enough and Mike thinking the same asked for my opinion, not bad I replied. We are after all caretakers and I'm sure they would find nothing out of the ordinary about our somewhat shaggy appearance.

Don and Andrew have flown up from Sandspit to take a look at the heli pad.

Over the past winter it has started to heel to one side. Quick assessment was the possibility of having to bring in a new one. This will be interesting to see the outcome.

Their stay was short. Didn't want to hang around as it was snowing on the other side of the island where they flew in from.

              April showers in B.C with a touch of snow for good measure.

               April 15th and a fresh snowfall on the hills. Enough already!!!!!

The snow from yesterday didn't last long, thank goodness. Today we witnessed a herring spawn. That's what making the water the milky colour.

     
      The herring come to spawn and the seals come in for the herring. The food chain.

                           
                                         Am I too late? Did you leave any for me?

      
            "I only ate a couple of herring, the guys over there ate a lot more than me."

                      
                             It didn't take long for the eagles to come to the table.

At first glance you have to wonder what this is. It's an odd angle but it's an eagle with a fish in it's claws.

                      
                           Spring also brings some of the lowest tides of the year.

I saw my first black bear this week. He was fairly large and had the most beautiful glossy black coat, the word that came to mind was "healthy." It was around 2 in the afternoon and I was walking down the path to the 20 kw where Mike had started the oil change. The scene that I came upon was Mike facing the genny and this big bear coming around the corner of the shed. My first thought was "wish I had my camera" and not of shouting out to Mike.....I'm bad? No harm done, as soon as Mr.Bear saw me he turned tail and rambled up the hill. We're keeping a look-out now for his return and I certainly hope I can catch it to show you.

                
                            The sunsets are becoming lovely as the summer draws near.

Till next week from the "Outpost"
Heather & Mike

" I'd Like a Menu, Please"

I've been thinking about food a lot lately. With only 45 days 8 hours 3 min left before we return to the real world, I've started to anticipate what my first meal will be. I enjoy cooking and baking and right from the start of our relationship I claimed the kitchen as my domain.Who knew that we'd be living for 9 months with no restaurants or take-out available. In hindsight I should have rethought that one.

Mike can cook, I know this for a fact. Our first date he made a fondue, rather impressive I thought. Than again just 3 years ago he had to survive on his own while I was working at a fishing resort. When I returned home after 42 days he was still kicking but was definitely a few pounds lighter.

Back to the thread of the story......so I'm giving some thought to what will I eat once we are back in civilization. The possibilities are endless, wrong. Home is where the boat is and for the last 5 years that has been Port Hardy, population 3800. Yeah kinda small so our choices are..... A & W, Subway, a couple of mom and pop establishments, a sports bar and a couple of hotel restaurants.

The problem is I am craving a good feed of Chinese. Nothing fancy, some sweet and sour chicken balls, yes, the ones that come in the glossy gelatinous red dye #5 sauce (yum),

some steamed white rice for soppy up extra sauce (yum yum), beef and broccoli curry (veggies are good for you) and Mike's favourite, Moo Moo Gai Pan (what exactly is moo moo gai pan?) Now to make this a perfect Chinese meal it would be at one of those all you can eat '584 items' to choose from football field length buffets complete with a fortune cookie delivered with your check.

On our travels I have eaten mystery meat from street vendors so “buffets” don't scare me, as so many people are these days

Too be honest, it's not so much about the food that I'm looking forward too, it'll be the thrill of sitting in a restaurant and having someone ask me, “What can I get for you?”

  

A Day of Firsts.....Week 31

    I could have shown the picture from last week of the hail on the chairs because another
Sunday morning greeted us with a combination of snow and hail...snail, which had fallen during the night. Snailing happens a lot here. I've never seen so much snail in all my life, in fact I can't remember ever seeing it before.

          I've had it confirmed from others that it indeed has been a colder spring than normal.
          Colder, windier, rainier. How lucky an I too have experinced this.

By 1 o'clock the SUN came out and melted away the snail. The "princess" as we're calling her this week, has already staked out her chair until the deck is dry and warm enough to take a snooze on.

First time I've seen an eagle on the beach. He was busy with something, which is why I was able to get as close as I did.

Watching for a while it become clear that what was so interesting was a bird. Throughout the winter I have come across half a doz. dead birds, washed up with the tide. The saddest of these was a large eagle. One step to many, he notices me and takes flight, bird in hand.

This is a Red-Breasted Sapsucker. Another first for today. Birds flutter throughout the forest and their song is heard where ever I go but I can never catch their imagine with my camera, until today.
He was busy at work drilling holes, his own little wells of sap, and didn't seem to mind my presence at all.

                                           Like me they are giving thanks to the 'sun god'.

 Awhile back in a post entitled "The Effects of Isolation" I said we needn't worry about our appearance on a day to day basis because it's not as if anyone would just drop by for a coffee and a chat.
I stand corrected.

To say we were surprised to see this two fellows would be an understatement. The coast guard vessel was anchored around the corner in another bay of Port Louis, guess I missed that one coming in.
They are out looking for the herring spawn, which so far they haven't come across. They think this may be due to the unusually cold ( see, even they think it's  cold) weather.
As I sit here writing this the herring may have just shown up. Four eagles have been feeding all day right in front of the lodge, along with 3 seals. It's been a great show watching them soar and dive.

                   Another first. Company, conversation, coffee and cake on a Sunday afternoon.

An hour later they are heading back to their ship. From here they will travel up to Masset, needing to refuel and do a bit of reprovisioning. How nice of them when they asked if we needed anything since they would be back down this way Thursday or Friday. In fact they were back much earlier. It was only several hours later that we see them skimming across the bay. Mike and I race down the dock to greet them... again. A pile of magazines! Thank you very much.

          For a morning that didn't look very promising it certainly turned out to be a wonderful day.

Till next week from the "Outpost",
Heather & Mike

A Women's Work Is Never Done

Sorta on a roll about the Bahamas. I am REALLY longing to be somewhere hot and sunny so reliving our days in the Bahamas it just going to have to suffice.

This is another laundry story. What does it say about my life that I am telling you tales of laundry and toilets? Yes I have toilet stories. All I can say is it's because I have travelled a bit and not just the homogenized variety holiday.

Today was rare, I had the boat to myself. Mike had gone out snorkeling/spearing with another boat. I didn't feel like it, actually I just wanted to be alone. You know put on a favourite CD, crank it up and dance around, do whatever. My whatever was laundry. It needed to be done so with a good dance mix on, I got on with it. Did I mention that I was doing this in a bucket? When you can't get to a laundromat this is what you do ..... first pour yourself a gin and tonic ( it's after 12) than bring bucket and clothes up on deck to wash. It's a big bucket ( I think it was a birthday present) and I can get right into it to stomp on the clothes. It's the same as the agitater in a real washing machine, right? The sun is shining ( it always shines in the Bahamas) and it's hot. Stomp, stomp, stomp. Might as well wash my bathing suit, which at the present time I am wearing. Off it comes. Stomp, stomp, stomp. Rinse everything in fresh water and hang them to dry on the life lines. It was at this point, as I was leaning over pinning clothes that I hear, “ Afternoon.” Where the f*#k did he come from? Really what can I do? Straightening up from pinning my clothes, stark naked remember, I proceed to carry on a conversation with this total stranger, sitting in his dingy staring up at me. Do I recall what we talked about, hell no, but there was no way I was turning tail and going downstairs to put something on. We chatted for a bit and than he went on his way. I, still not finished with my domestic chores continued on.

Must have been all of 30 seconds when the sound of outboards was heard. Scanning the horizon there were 3 dinghies skimming the water, engines cranked full open and headed my way. Are you kidding? This guy had no sooner left when he must have gotten on the radio to relate his “adventure.” For all of a split second I considered standing there exactly as I was but chickened out and went below to put on a bathing suit. They all cruised by but no one stopped to chat. I wonder why?

 

April Showers.....Week 30

April showers bring......hail, rain, snow and cold winds. Maybe this is what spring is like in Haida Gwaii.Those 5 days of sunshine teasing me with promises of what was to come, was just that, a tease.
    Last Sunday April 3rd was a typical weather day....for January. The squalls charged through bringing hail and even some snow. It was the type of day where I didn't even get out of my pajamas. Several pots of coffee were enjoyed in front of a roaring fire.... yes, I did say fire.
It felt damp and chilly, so having a fire was just the thing to warm the lodge up.

To think that just last week I was sitting here getting my first dose of vitamine D that didn't come out of a bottle.

                                            To me this picture really represents Haida Gwaii.

                                     What do you do when it's cold and raining out.......bake.

                                        There is something wrong with this picture.

                                         It's April 6th and there is fresh snow on the distance hills.

                                            Nice to see the sun glistening on the water.

                                      The sun finally comes out and with it the local wildlife.

                             Even "Fat Cat" manages to come out and enjoy the sights and sounds of spring.

                             This is his "happy face", really.

     9 p.m......   One of the greatest things about living this far north is the long hours of daylight.

Till next week from the "Outpost"

Heather & Mike

You Can Take Me To Paradise

It must be that I am anxious for the warmer weather to hurry up and appear that has me daydreaming of white sand beaches, crystal clear water, hot, humid days, and nights that provide warm breezes. All these things remind me of the Bahamas and the easy laid back life that we had than......sorta of like now without the white sand beaches, hot humid days.........

Cruising as a lifestyle full time is not all fun in the sun. Just before Mike and I left to venture south, I recall a friend saying with a hint of envy, “Just think of all the time you'll have to read and suntan and swim and party and eat out.” I was thinking along those same lines myself, after all Mike did promise to take me to paradise.

You know what...they clean toilets in paradise. They also cook, clean, do laundry, do dishes plus change engine oil, scrub the deck and dive under the boat to remove barnacles. Life goes on just as before, it's just now your are doing it from a home that floats.

If I were to talk to another woman, who's hubby, partner or significant other was trying to convince her to take to a life on the high seas I would be straight with her. It'll be much harder than you ever thought.

Jump into the car and run to the store for that one must have item for your famous signature dish, won't happen. Open the double door fridge with bottom freezer unit, won't happen. Throw a load of clothes into the washer (hahahahahaha) won't happen. Light some scented candles around the whirlpool jet soaker tub... you got it, won't happen.

On the other hand, so what you don't have that one spice to put on the fish, you just speared 15 minutes ago and is not grilling on the barbie. Hey, your tiny little freezer box makes ice cubes and really that's all that matters. How hard is it to hand wash your bathing suit and and soaker tubs were invented to relieve the stresses of your busy life. You have no stress!!!! Jump in the 80 degree water with a “noodle” and gin and tonic.

Honey, your in Paradise!

 

A Relaxing Shower, Not.

What make's your skin crawl? Make's your heart race? Is there something that stops you dead in your tracks?

For me it's spiders. |I am not to the degree where I would say I have arachnophobia but I do run the other way if I see a spider. Doesn't have to be a palm size, hairy legged, 6 eyed, fanged tarantula, a dime sized creature can also send a quiver down my spine.

              Must be the arrival of spring (someone should let the weather man know this) but twice this week I have opened the shower door only to reel back in horror. Huge, thick bodied attack spiders (they look like could attack) are lurking in the corner. I know their game.

 Waiting until I am covered in soap with a head full of shampoo they will drop to the floor. Being as blind as a bat without my glasses all I see is something dark on the shower floor which wasn't there a second ago. Immediately me brain conjures up a picture of this.

Just looking at these pictures sends shivers down my spine.

From the top of my head to the tip of my toes, my skin is crawling, and goes cold.

Coldness is due to the fact that I am not longer in the shower. Scrambling for my specs even before a towel, I must see what this foreign object is. OMG!!!!!

 I back away, thinking what to do. Should I holler for Mike, would he hear me? “Buck up, you can do this”, I tell myself. I really should leave a broom or big boot in the bathroom for times like this. My line of defence is to toss a glass of water on the spider and flush him down the drain. This always works but not without a fight, their bristly multiple legs hanging on for dear life to the slots in the drain. The shower head is  repositioned for maximize force. I  continually refill the glass, pouring     it directly on the beast. Hours later ( seems like hours) he slips through the       cracks and is gone. Or is he? Another 5 minutes of scaling water to be sure he is not still clinging to the underside of the drain,  to reappear, sending me fleeing once again.   

Public Enemy #1

For the last month I have been waging a war and I hate to admit it but I'm losing.

My opponent.....The Raccoon. Normally any animal around which we see a lot of, we'd name but this one being a foe remains “The Raccoon or The Dam Raccoon.”
His presence has been sporadic throughout the winter months, leaving evidence of muddy paw prints and even muddier cat food dishes.

This raccoon has attitude and on more than one occasion we have stared each other down.Shoo raccoon, shoo shoo....ha ha ha, doesn't even warrant a look up from the cat food she(he?) is chowing down. Stomping my feet and waving my arms only gets me a look that says “what's your problem?” Time to get the broom. Whack! He does get moving but not very fast, mind you. He'll wattle to the closest exit, some obvious other not so much so.

One by one I've closed them off. Their crafty little buggers though and will detour around my blockades. In the past week we have come down to one final piece of land,
a 6ft stretch at the back wall of the basement which is easy digging in the sandy gravel. His nightly excavation has me devising new ways to fortify “The Wall” each day.

Scrape wood shoved onto the dirt against the existing wall and than milk cartons filled with rocks put in front of that are found dragged aside, the boards strewn about and another hole dug under the boards. I'm rather amazed at how strong they are. When the raccoon made an appearance in front of the guys who were here last week they immediately said what I had to do was nail the boards, “That will keep them out, it's how you have to do it.” So I did.......and this is what he did.

OK, I'm going to take care of this once and for all and likely should have done this right from the get go. Better late than never. I was going into the cement business.

First I dug a small trench at the battle ground and filled it with cement, making a nice thick slurry, than I covered it with the loose gravel which the raccoon had so thoughtfully left in a pile. Let him try to dig under the boards this time! Now all I had to do was wait and see if the dam raccoon got in tonight.
Victory is mine. Such a silly thing to go on about but it's just all part of a caretakers life.