What does Lindeman Lake have to do with camping?!?

This past weekend, I knew I'd be tired. Cody's schoolclass had a long wonderful hike up to Lindeman Lake (near Chwk Lake) planned for Friday. Never having been on the hike, I geared up just for a day of beautiful surroundings and unknown adventure!

The hike was even more than I imagined. I LOVED it! Somewhat strenuous for these 'gettin' old' bones, but in a good way. The lake was gorgeous, the company the best!

(I have pictures to share, but as today is a work day, I'll load them at a later time)

Anyway, I had to figure out what my weekend held before me. I knew I'd be tired on Saturday. so how did I want to spend my achy Saturday was my goal to figure out. Let's see... tired, aches, (I know, boo hoo), shall I tile a bathroom floor or sleep in, watch a movie, do a little sight seeing while I 'recoup?'

Was this even a contest?!? No. lol... I escaped to the campsite.

Was I tired the next day? Oh yeah. But first thing I did was stop feeling sorry for myself and got out on that beach in the AM for my morning speed walk. Whadda place to walk! Hard to believe that beauty surrounds us. Mountains, lake, other morning walkers. It's really a special place.

Now that I was wound up, it was time to figure out what else to do. So I hit a few amazing spots in Agassiz. I had read in the paper about these cool places in the area that offered you wonderful specialty lunches, antique shopping, you know, just a true girl's kinda day out. I was solo that weekend so I knew I could do this at my total leisure.

Going by memory and sure to get some names wrong without my literature I've handed to Janette already...

I visited Lindbert (sp??) Farms. They specialize in gourmet lunches, herb gardens, nice places to wander about. I wasn't disappointed. I ordered up curry chicken crepes with oven roasted potatoes, corn on the cob and a basil tomato salad and watched it being cooked up. Oh my... I love eating good food! The grounds to wander around were spectacular. There's a turkey coop to boot! Oh and I have a wonderful cooking tip to share. For the best ever oven roasted potatoes, cook your potatoes, then cut smaller, baste with olive oil and soy sauce and bake in the oven. They have the most lovely slightly greek flair to them. The three tiny chunks I was offered weren't nearly enough... *urp*

Then came The Back Porch. This place I visit regularly. They roast their own coffee beans (avail in many varieties), have a pottery shop (she works while you watch) a stache of antiques outside to browse through, and the coolest character buildings you've ever seen. There's even a feed dispenser so you can feed the chickens and goats. (Cody's fav part when he's with me) I donate for my sample exquisite coffee and wander the antiques and grounds there. Nice! I'm shopping for my renos after all.. yes, I am!

Then the Cheese Farm. (don't know the official name). I one I loved best was this soft white basil/goat cheese. They make all their cheese on site. Just a cool place to check out on a coolish day. My eye darted to the old farmwood furniture benches outside... yup, some extreme talent going on there. Trust me, when my eye goes for decorating rather than good food, you know it has to be really good.

Then the local thrift store. I was a good girl though. I had a couple things in my hand but I put them back before exiting the store. I had to tell myself, "And just WHERE do you think you will put this?!? In storage???" It's not the right time to shop yet. I'm still purging stuff. But at least I got in my small 'seek and find' excursion.

Then I got invited out for dinner at another campsite. I learned how to grill up asparagus (marinated in an oil italian dressing) and that alone inspired me to get my silly waiting waiting waiting bigger bbq just off my kitchen finally put together so I can try out my new culinary skills at home! Bob and Chris had done up a prime rib roast for dinner on the bbq. Oh my oh my oh my.... good eatin' that night!

The next day, I knew I wanted to get home fairly pronto. I wanted to buy some corn on the cob and get that in freezer bags before the corn was done and over with. But not before digging in and gutting the campsite in preparation for the upcoming winter. I even played with the idea of having time to tile some floor if I really got a move on...

I get home only to be welcomed by Janette inviting me to walk with her. So off we go! Corn and floor can wait... (I got my corn done when Cody was in the bath but no floor)

Anyway, it was a neat weekend of visiting what our area offers us. There are many hidden gems in Agassiz and Harrison. It's what keeps me going back for sure.

And now it's time to warp into Yarrow again. Anyone try the donair's yet at The Steam Kettle? They are fabulous...

Ok, back to the point of my post. Lindeman Lake and camping all have their place and diversity is indeed the spice of life. But now it's time to include renos to make things even spicier.

Dust kickin' time here I come!

My dog stinks

I really like my dog. That isn't why I'm saying my dog stinks.

THIS is why...



Over the last weekend, I was happily reading in the quiet PM flicker of my propane firepit at the campsite. Jenna was chewing on her bone in the grass near the water. All was well, all was quiet.

Jenna stopped chewing and growled. This isn't normal. I didn't know she had a voice box until creepy creatures of the Harrison Lagoon ooze out of the murk. So I knew something was headed our way.

There was a slight breeze to the evening, so just moments before our uninvited guest arrived, I had moved a bench in front of the firepit with a chairpad leaning against it to break the breeze.

So now the growl changed to 'get on your feet and BARK! NOW!'. Oh how I wish she didn't do that. The skunk walked into plain view! No running, nothing! (talk about self confidence here). But I didn't stop and chat. I saw the black and white fluff just above my chairpad and yelled to Jenna, "JENNA COME! COME HERE! NOW!" I may as well have played a little tune on Cody's new recorder as my instructions had the same effect. I was put on ignore.

My last view of the skunk was watching it spin around and simply lift it's tail...

Whatever! I RAN, dog or no dog. Jenna followed me soon after, coming out of the nasty mist sneezing, wheezing and shaking her head.

Then the smell hit full throttle. The musk (yes, this nerd has searched out info on this topic for your reading pleasure) was so overwhelming you actually lost your breath for a moment. Remember, I was basically standing in the eye of this storm and I had to get out some way.

I turned around to see if it was running after us. I mean, 'a skunk carries enough musk for FIVE sprays!'. Well, I wasn't armed with this info at the time but I kept running anyway. Can't be good to not know where it went...

So it's 10 pm and I have a dog that I don't want NEAR my trailer, let alone sleep in it.

This isn't our first encounter with a skunk and Jenna. She has a history of barking at them and then gets a good douse for her trouble. The first time I cleaned her with clamato juice (I didn't have the old wive's tale of tomato on hand) and she ended up smelling like a spicey tomato skunk. So I had stocked up on some expensive skunk removal stuff from Pet-we-got-it-all-Smart.

I dashed for that, read the label and soaked that dog while I gagged. A wet dog never smells good anyway but now she was wet and putrid.

I took her for a walk while this magical potion so to speak did it's job of neutralizing the odor, rather than masking it. I was so hoping this would work. But it had to dry before becoming effective. As we walked down the road past other campers, nearly everyone mumbled, "EWWWW I smell skunk!" Yeah, me too. Saturating my dog and me at this point. I had a furry walking skunk room deodorizer, the most unuseful thing known to mankind. And it was all mine.

It took a long time for this stuff to dry, but once it did, I could handle being around Jenna. It was not sitting right with me to leave her in the truck as it was suppose to be a hot AM the next day. So in the trailer we went with every window open. Oy... in closed quarters, I knew I had to get to sleep quick before it was too late, so I just did.

A week later, if Jenna gets wet, skunk perfume fills the home. If she licks her paw, she's wet. If she drinks water, she's wet. If it rains... it hasn't rained yet thankfully but I'm getting scared...

I could tell you so many useless things I've learned about skunks tonite, but rather than bore you with that, here's a link where I learned my skunk lessons from. There's even a skunk quiz! (I heard those oooos and ahhhhs) So I expect you good folks to do your homework and pass with flying colours here, for when you least expect it...

http://fohn.net/skunk-pictures-facts/index.html

Skunk Lessons to date:

-carry that expensive skunk neutralizer at all times or try the cheapo recipe from the internet
(I already bought more of the diluted gold so good enough! I mean who wants to cook when your eyes are watering anyway?)

-ensure chairpad armour is locked into position when sitting near the campfire
(that thing saved me! Janette my neighbour commented she smelled skunk in her yard.. my loaded chairpad is next to her driveway. I should move that..)

- do NOT forget to bring in the dogfood from outside
(skunk was after the dogfood I forgot about the night before. I had a baaad feeling when I saw it partially eaten the next day)

- share my story worldwide to prepare others for this insane kind of attack on an innocent bone chewing non barking variety dog just being a good girl and enjoying her camping

Summary: Just buy the stuff and be ready to RUN.

Because I guarantee you, the skunk will not.

Last weekend at Harrison

As you may have noted, the current pictures on the slideshow are all from one special place.

Click on the slideshow 'center area' to open the picture website for larger viewing options. You just really have to see the pictures bigger to appreciate the extreme beauty Harrison Hot Springs offers.

I went camping on the weekend solo. I was sort of in the mood to socialize rather than wind down that weekend, so I joined in a few more activities with my neighbours at the campground.

I'm just really glad I did. I read this article in a magazine how this one gal tested herself to say yes to a few more new opportunities and she found it really enhanced her life. So inspired by her wisdom, I followed suit.



There's some real truth to that theory! I had a wonderful time! After several walks with the ladies and our dogs in tow, Chris organized a hike up the mountain that lead to it's own private beach. My kinda hike!

It was so beautiful. I had an inkling it would be so I brought my camera in my backpack. It was hard to put the camera down. Everywhere you looked was something breathtaking. I've never hiked looking pretty much just through a camera lens before. Watch your step... ohhhh yeah. I stopped constantly. Jenna came scampering back a few times to see if I met up with a real live teddy bear or not. All was well. It's just that there's art in so many everyday things you take for granted!

The dogs were armed with bear bells so it brought a little Christmas spirit into our adventure to boot... I like the bell idea! As a bonus you always knew where your dog was hiding out.

As we finally reached the hidden beach destination, I was quoted as saying, "Oh look, we walked all the way to Hawaii!!" One moment you're in this lovely wooded forest with only filtered sunlight, to the bright whiteness of all that sand! Ohhhhh, the sand was soooo deep! Walking out of the forest resembled walking right into Survivor, ready for 'today's challenge.'




The dogs had an absolute beach party. Any dog owner knows well how much a dog enjoy's their walk. You get a group of them together and you'd better watch your back! They bolt by in play FAST!
All too soon it was time to head back again. But the fun didn't end there. Chris and Bob invited me on their boat for a nice leisurely afternoon in the sun and water. I packed a quick lunch and off we went. I even brought my camera again. Too bad I left it in Bob's truck...

Life on a boat is quite a different beach experience. You can pick and choose whichever beach you prefer that given day, spec out the crowds, look for a nice shallow bay so the water's warm, you have the pick of the lake! We pulled into what I called Mexico. Sandy beach with some rocks and loads of driftwood, perfect for shopping later.

It's just not a bad life on a boat! You can sit anywhere on these gizmos in comfort! Go for a quick swim then hop back on board and lay in the sun. Partake in the goodies you brought and enjoy the quiet swishing of the waves around you. I forgot about lawn chairs that day.

We rode about an hour away from Harrison beach, so there was plenty to see along the way. Wonderfully secluded cabins dotted the shores everywhere you looked. With fun 60's tunes cranked way loud to beat the roar of the high speed, you couldn't help but sing along!

By the time we got back to the campsite, it was time to pack up and head home. Sigh...

I have some wonderful memories of this past weekend. Thanks to my wonderful campground neighbours for an outstanding weekend!

Welcome!

What can I say. I love to write.

Earlier this year I started a blog on my home renovation project. I love sharing what's going on in my reno world as it's one pretty exciting ride that is changing daily.

However I kept finding myself desiring to share everyday run of the mill occurances most generally label, just another day.

So here we are. Except I like my 'just another days' wonderful! I'm a true believer in we make where we are. So I hope you enjoy my everyday ramblings as much as I'll no doubt enjoy entering them!

Here's to all your days as wonderful as ours are!