An Earthquake?.....Week 11

“ I think we just had a earthquake. Did you feel that?”

“ No, I WAS sleeping.”

“ The bed just moved.......didn't you feel that ?”

It was my turn to start the genny this morning. Not much time is wasted between jumping....well actually more like a roll, I never jump out of bed but I do jump into sweats, sweater and socks. Chilly. Still half asleep I slip into shoes and another jacket, I hate being cold. Each and every time I step outside (on my mornings) I am awed by the absolute quiet.

I notice a large branch laying on the ground which hadn't been there yesterday. It had been a windy night. A few good blows had the front windows vibrating.

Walk down the boardwalk than the path to the generator shed. Start up the genny, walk back, turn on coffee, go out again to basement,say good morning to the cats, feed them, back outside up the stairs and into the lodge.

“It was that tree that I felt last night.....it shook the bed.”

“Thought you said it was an earthquake, that you felt the earth....move.”

“It did move but obviously it was the tree.”

“What tree are you going on about?”

“What tree? You were just outside and didn't see the enormous tree about 3 ft in diameter and 80 ft. long that fell ohhh...... 20 ft. from the back of the lodge?”

I'm not a morning person.

Till next week,

Heather & Mike

One tree, two trees, who notices when another one silently falls in the night.

Much bigger when you are actually standing on it.

                                 Now you really get the idea exactly how HUGH this tree it.

Streaming & Reading....Week 10

My symptoms of withdrawal have lessened these past few weeks due to the ability to “stream”. What the heck is she talking about?
Mike and I can be TV junkies or extreme couch potatoes if the opportunity is there. Living in the remote locations that we do could be used as an excuse but really we just like watching TV. Our anticipation for the barge was largely for a crucial piece of cable that it was bringing. We can now “stream” our much missed TV programs through the computer to our flat screen TV. Outstanding! .......but there's a catch.
Downloads or streaming can only be done 11pm to 4am., weather permitting, no rain or heavy cloud cover. We catch up on our favourite shows till the wee hours of the morning. In our world there are no alarm clocks!

The computer has become our TV.

Knowing that the OP was going to be extremely remote and not so easy to get things the decision to buy another laptop before we came in was genius. It doesn't take the place of sitting down with your morning coffee in front of the TV and seeing what has happened throughout the world during the night but we adjust and make the best of the situation. Side by side at our table with matching laptops we check emails, stock markets, world and local headlines.

Nothing can replace the pleasure of sitting down to browse through a new magazine, glossy and crisp, the sound of a page turning, the weight on your lap.
But where would we be if we never tried anything new. E books and digital magazines. Reading devices called Kindle,Nook and Kobo or download right to your PC. Why would I want to look at a magazine on my computer? Mike thought what a great idea, I can download all I want and read it off line. Great for a rainy day when our system goes down. Wasn't long before he had a library full of magazines -- PC World, Popular Science, Latitude 38, Coastal Cruising, Multihulls and Sail.
Maybe I should take a look. Once I get use to the “reader” I realize that looking at a magazine this way has a lot of advantages.
I can lighten the screen, enlarge the print or zoom in for a closer look.
I can stay up after the genny is shut down and read in the dark.
The laptop sits nicely on my lap.
I can sit back, put me feet up , and have both hands free while I read. Holding a glass of wine is good use for empty hands.

Evenings are now spent browsing through Popular Photography, Food Network Magazine, National Geographic Traveler and Islands. Excuse me while I go get a glass of wine.

Books. I brought several boxes of paperbacks with me. I'm a thrift shop, second-hand store, yard sale, exchange with your friends type of book person.
The thrill of finding a favourite author keeps me coming back searching through stacks on the floor,over -flowing broken down cardboard boxes, crouching in tiny nooks with shelves so jammed packed that that a pamphlet would have a hard time fitting it. I love it.
Many have seen better days. A well worn book is a read book. Rarely but it happens, you come across one that as soon as you open the front cover you know you are only the second reader. The cover is stiff and the spine hardly broken. A real find.

My interests ran the gamut. A quick glance has me reaching for the thick hefty book promising a saga of grand proportions. My next choice could be a slim hardcover novel of no more than 300 pages. Authors are irrelevant. Medieval historical fiction, the classics, humour, throw in an occasional thriller, a cookbook or anything by Nelson DeMille, Wilbur Smith,Rosamunde Pilcher or Dan Brown.
New York Times best seller, Booker Prize, Oprah's Book Club, spy any of these labels and I'll pick it up. For 25 cents ( Port Hardy Hospital Auxiliary) what have I got to lose.
What am I reading now? John Steinbeck's“The Grapes of Wrath”.

Till next week,
Heather & Mike

A walk about.......Week 9

Food occupies my mind a lot. You have likely gathered this about me but there are 2 sides to the coin.

Come November to mid December Mike and I shift gears in our eating habits.

Time to put a halt to the cookies & cakes, creamed sauces, creamy puddings,sour cream, whipped cream and ice cream. No more french fries, french toast, french bread or french onion soup. Aged cheese, grilled cheese, mac& cheese,cheese omelets and cheesecake are all put on the back burner.

I could confess to wanting to lead a more healthy life-style but let's just say it,we're going on a diet. Every year at this time this is what we do. Why? We like to indulge during the Christmas season (I have a great fondness for eggnog) so losing a few pounds before- hand is a good idea.

Over the years I have learned if you want to get out of those “comfy pants” and back into the “looking good” jeans you have to exercise. The OP known as a wilderness fishing frontier could now have a motto of “ Come lose yourself in the wilderness of Haida Gwaii”

I think walking is one of the best things you can do and the boardwalk is going to offer a fabulous workout. According to my pedometer 3 times around = 1 mile

( 17 mintues) so 12 times around will be my goal. Let's go for a walk.

Starting at the back deck it's 105 steps to where we turn .

Down to the end of the first float than turn around and head along the front boardwalk. Nicest part of walk. You can hear the roar of the ocean. 243 steps.

Up the stairs 29 in all, across the deck, walk all four sides of the heli pad, go down the stairs to underneath the deck along front boardwalk than back to where you started.Steps 700 more or less. Ingram (cat) will only do 1 circuit with me before she finds something else more interesting.

Knowing that we might be having a rainy day or two, I have planned for that. Wii.

You can do more than just play tennis and golf, racing cars or shooting birds out of the sky. The new fitness program can be very challenging. Twenty minutes  of squats, lunges, boxing and running gives you a good workout. I can only take so much of the “coach” who keeps up a running commentary on how you are doing so I often turn her down, don't' worry on the screen they let you know if you are moving to slow or aren't squatting low enough!

What is a gym without some huge piece of exercise equipment. We bought this elliptical machine (on-line) several years ago when at another lodge. By truck, taxi than 2 boats it was delivered. To get it here only involved us getting it to the barge. I should start putting travel stickers on it like a steamer trunk!

I knew when I saw these, and had to buy them there was a reason. Lovely as the boardwalk is, it is Slippery! Who knew that the trend on these fashionable rubber boots( bet you never put those 3 words together) would do the trick.

Gotta run!

Till next week,

Heather & Mike