Outpost Week 27 ~ Bit of This, Bit of That

Some weeks a phase, a thought or a good title will pop into my head which gives me some sort of direction that my blog will take. Hopefully this happens before Wednesday afternoon when I sit down to write, as this seems to have become my routine. If there is nothing rambling around up there and I can assure you that some days there isn't, than I wait and see what comes of the pictures I have taken throughout the week.

Recently I have commented on the few number of photos I have been taking, there just doesn't seem to be much going on around here, except for the barge last week (one last hurrah) so I was surprised to find so many images that I could use this week. I'll admit it's almost all animals and weather but hey that's all I got to work with here.

Now that I'm not attached to a heater and hot water flows freely from the taps it's been a week of cleaning. Floors got washed, the kitchen had a good wipe down and the pile, mountain, heap or mound, take your pick, of laundry gave the NEW washing machine a workout. I forgot to mention last week that Ken had put a washer aboard the barge so my hand washing days would be no more. The nice thing about having an inventory of a 50 or so towels (for crew) is there's aways a fresh one to grab.

 

We have 2 resident eagles whom I often hear but seldom see. On this particular day there must have been something intriguing on the beach which held their attention and let me spy on them.

The weather window which had allowed the barge to come down was just that, a window which closed later that day and in it's wake left behind 4 days of dreary overcast skies.

When this weather pattern does break the vista before us is always breathtaking.

There's something about the sun shining that has everyone coming around.

Sam has grown comfortable, maybe a bit too much, looking in the windows to see what we are up to. Hello Sammy!

Princess on the other hand will sit here all day but not once acknowledge that she sees us.

And than we have the unexpected. Mike was outside filling the furnace tank and I had been in the bedroom when I walked into the dining room and saw a dinghy racing towards the dock. People!!! First things first I grabbed my camera and from the deck snapped a couple of pictures, than rushed out to tell Mike we had company and than hurried down to greet them. Two of the fellows we had met last year, one from DFO and the other was a diver that had come in to do some work on the heli pad. The reason for their visit this time was to dive the docks, something they were doing at all the lodges. We chatted for a couple of minutes while two of the guys suited up and it was than I realized that I didn't have my camera, not like me to run down there in the first place without it, so off I went. Either the water was really cold or they saw all they wanted to see but by the time I returned they were both back in the boat and all 3 were heading off.

So much for a photo opportunity.

A question that had been asked by one of our visitors was “have you seen many birds lately?” “No we haven't” I replied “and in fact I haven't seen as many birds here as I did last year.” Nothing more was asked so I have no idea why they did.

These 3 Merganser's have been in our bay all season. They don't very often come to this corner so I didn't waste any time trying to get a couple of pictures.

I've learned never to be disappointed nor get excited when I take my first look at what's happening outside because in an hour or two it will likely change, so when we woke up to quite a bit of snow (for here) the other day it was no big deal. In fact my first thought was “I'm going to make a snowman today”. Well true to my word by the time I had my coffee (s) something to eat and browsed the internet to see what was going on in the real world the temperature had started to climb and the snow had started to melt....than it started to rain. My plans for having a bit of fun in the sun oops meant snow, were melted away.

Must be tiring to be a deer. Trails to navigate, beaches to explore, having to check back to the lodge several times a day to see if there might be a hand out...take a nap.

So it it seems another week has gone by and I have managed to say a bit about this and a bit about that.

Till next week,

Heather & Mike

Outpost Week 26 ~ Happy Days Are Here Again

If ever there was a cause for celebration it was Monday March 5^th when the barge finally arrived in Port Louis. Ken had been keeping us up to date as to their progress and a possible attempt to come down the coast Monday or Tuesday was the plan so far. On Sunday afternoon we received the email that we have been waiting 6 months to read........the barge is coming!!!!

An ETA of 10 am to noon on Monday had us up at the crack of dawn, well more like 8 but close enough, to have a couple cups of coffee before we started hauling down the assortment of items that were going out on the barge.

It was a beautiful clear morning even if it was chilly and a thin layer of snow had fallen the night before. The sun was out and the bay was calm, couldn't ask for a better conditions. Manned with hand carts we started wheeling down beer kegs (empty), boxes of fishing gear to be repaired, bags of jackets and pants to be cleaned for the coming season, fishing rods, a safe (yes a safe), a large coffee machine, a dishwasher, 2 ice makers and a paddle board. Try as I might we couldn't manhandle the heavier items so I'll have to step aside on that one and ask one of the guys coming in to lend a hand.

As luck would have it we were on an incoming tide and a high one at that. For us that meant the ramp from the barge to the heli pad wouldn't be as steep as it might have been but we were also experiencing quite a surge and the docks were constantly moving and groaning and emitting all types of strange noises. Have you ever gone into the 'fun house' at a carnival? This is what the docks made me think of. You would go to step onto one of the bridges and suddenly it wasn't exactly where you thought it was.

Everything now piled on the dock, we waited, sitting in the sun which had now reached us.

We heard the rumble before we actually saw the barge. I raced back up into the lodge to grab my camera and take some shots of her coming into our little bay.

It's been 95 days since we've seen anyone and that was only for about 15 minutes when the plane came in with the part for the furnace and a load of fresh produce.

Once the ramp was down Mike wasted no time on going aboard and greeting the guys.

I almost hugged the first person I saw ( but held back) mainly because their arrival meant that we would have fuel and that meant we would have heat and hot water.

After discussing the gorgeous weather, their trip down and how each month they had tried to make it here but the conditions always seemed to kick up just then, it was time to get to work. While Dave, Dave, Jim and Mike headed off to hook up the diesel hose, I stayed back on the float where the sun was.

Now that the fuel was flowing it was time for us to start transferring our pile from the dock up the ramp and into the container on board. With Dave lending a hand we were done in no time at all with the light stuff, the dishwasher and ice maker were a little more taxing.

 

I think Mike was thoroughly enjoying some male conversation.

In no time at all Jim had the 4 tanks filled to a total of 19690 L of glorious diesel. No chance of running out now! Propane was next on the agenda. Dave had said they were running kinda low in that department but would fill as many as he could, only got as far as 6 but with the 2 we already had we'll be fine although I won't be cooking up a storm. 

While the propane tanks were being taken care of I had a job of my own to do and that was filling the furnace tank with diesel. I'll admit I was a bit nervous when Mike went to start up the furnace but there was no need, it fired right up...oh what a wonderful sound.

The wind had started to pick up and the crew were getting anxious to get under way for the 6 hour trip back up to Langara. Paperwork completed, handshakes and wishes of a safe trip back and than 4 hours after they arrived, they were gone.

Did you hear that? What is that noise? It has been so long since the furnace was on that we'd forgotten all the strange noises the 'beast' makes. We constantly feel the radiators, their getting warm and turn on taps to feel the water, still just luke warm but heating up. Three hours later we enjoyed long hot showers, than a very large celebratory drink while throughout the evening we took turns looking at the thermometer, watching the mercury climb.

One last word: as I sit here writing this I am wearing A t-shirt and no socks.

Our 'circle of heat' is no longer and the average temperature these days is 76 degrees.

Happy days are here again!

Till next week,

Heather & Mike

Outpost Week 25 ~ Lion or Lamb

March came in neither like a lion nor a lamb or so I thought. The very beginning of the day, midnight, it began to rain with some hail mixed in but only lasted for 15 minutes or so. It did get noticeably colder though as we saw the temperature drop 2 degrees inside....caused me to bring the heater just a tad closer. The morning dawned grey, nothing new about that but was so dramatic looking that I was sure a storm was brewing. Nope. A slight wind rippled the water and kept the conifers swaying but the day ended just as grey though less threatening as it began.

With the calendar marking spring only 20 days away I'm already noticing tell-tale signs of the changing season. For us it's not the world around us turning from brown to green since we are green all year round but the appearance of the sun in places where it hadn't been able to reach for the last 4 months.

You know what they say when you assume, well we did just that with the log that got stuck under the dock. Remember how we said all we'd have to do was pry up a couple of boards that were already half way there, than just push the log back under and let it float away, well it wasn't to be. After lifting up the boards it become much clearer that this log was really jammed in there and Mike was going to have to reevalulate, rethink and reassess the situation.

Wouldn't you know it but that week we had some extremely low tides which obviously pushed the log further up making the job a bit more interesting.

Our two resident cats lead a rather quiet life during the winter months, spending most of their days in the basement so whenever I go out and about I always stick my head into the basement and call the 'princess'. She'll appear from some little cubby hole, always a different spot, leisurely stretching each leg as she unhurriedly makes her way (makes you wait) to the door. Once outside she'll trot along beside me (I think she was a dog in another life) enjoying being out with company.

 

Barge Update: Still waiting!!

Till next week,
Heather & Mike