Cabin Journal: Homemaking

I grew up in the 50s and 60s. In junior and high school, classes in sewing, cooking and homemaking were "electives" girls had to take.

When I was working, homemaking was farther from my mind than algebra. I did the minimum possible and Wayne shared in the duties. Now I enjoy homemaking, especially up at the float cabin. You'll find me sewing, cooking, baking, canning, gardening and even housework.

June 27, 2019

With cooler weather we had a fire in the woodstove and I turned on our battery powered inside decorative lights. It's the first time since we've been home that it was dark enough to enjoy them. Unless we stay up past 10:00, there's plenty of sunlight to keep the cabin bright. I used the indoor time to do some hand sewing. I patched a cloth grocery bag and covered new holes and thin spots in my work sweat pants. I had them before I met Wayne, so they must be pushing 40 years old. Wow!

I call my sweatpants Patches for obvious reasons.

Click here to read "The Story of Patches".


July 2, 2019

We are running low on fresh food. Yesterday was the last doughnut and the bread ran out on Saturday when I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for our breakfast while driving the barge to the Shinglemill. I had a banana and a half going brown, so I looked up a recipe online for banana bread. I was short some mashed banana so I settled on a recipe or pineapple banana bread. I didn't have any crushed pineapple, but I did have some tidbits left over in the fridge from our fruit bowls. I diced them finer and had everything needed to make a late breakfast with fruit, a hard boiled egg for Wayne and yogurt for me. Yum! Plus we have extra for dessert or breakfast tomorrow.

Cooking and baking are now fun.

Click here for the recipe and directions to make Pineapple Banana Bread with Pecans.

Did you take homemaking classes in school? Or were you a lucky guy who got shop? Educational offerings have changed a lot over the years. More classes are co-ed, but unfortunately many of the home arts and shop classes have been eliminated. -- Margy

Cabin Journal: Beds, Bugs and Birds

Carrots are gone and the beds are ready for planting.

Float cabin living has lots of outdoor activities. Garden beds need to be cleaned out and replanted. Bugs (and all sorts of insects) come out. Birds return to nest.

June 4, 2019

Before we unloaded the boat after a trip to the States, we did a quick walk around the cabin deck. I could tell from a distance that the carrots in the floating garden had gone to seed in our absence and had three foot stems with white flowers on top. They wouldn't be good to eat, but were pretty in their own way. My garlic was about a foot tall and volunteer arugula was flowering bright yellow. There wasn't time to attend to gardening chores that night, everything could wait one more day.

June 4, 2019

The next thing I noticed was a Yellow Jacket paper nest beginning under the eaves near the kitchen window. That would need immediate attention after dark when they are at rest. I checked another favourite nesting spot under the overhang on Gemini's windshield. Sure enough, another nest. We got home just in the nick of time for both. Wayne shot them with wasp spray then knocked the nests into the water for good measure!

June 6, 2019

Barn swallows come to nest every year. We enjoy their company, but when they try to nest under the front porch we have to shoo them away. We've tried several ways to deter them. This year I swept down the nest beginnings and put a broom in its place. I had to keep sweeping and moving brooms until the swallows took the hint and found a better spot.

Coming home is always exciting, especially because we never know what we might find. -- Margy

Cabin Journal: Mason Bee Hotels

A Mason Bee  in a nesting block.

Since 2016, I’ve encouraged native Mason Bees to nest at my cabin. Mason Bees are solitary and docile. I look forward to their emergence from my homemade bee hotels each year. Here are some of my cabin journal excerpts.

April 4, 2019

Mason Bees should be coming out soon. One sunny afternoon I decided to refurbish my two repurposed birdhouse bee hotels on the front porch, so I got out my acrylic paints. The front edges got a red touch-up and the eaves a bright white coating. The roofs got a fresh layer of forest green. Then I added bundles of cardboard tubes designed specifically for Mason Bee nesting.

April 6, 2019

Wayne moved the storage box with full nesting blocks from last year to the front porch where the rising sun would reach them. Just in time. The first male emerged today.

June 1, 2019

After a lengthy stay in the States I checked my Mason Bee hotels. I was worried I there wouldn't be enough tubes for the bees to seal up their eggs. The tubes were full, but the enterprising bees cleaned out the wood blocks and filled them up again. I still see a few bees hanging around so I added more cardboard tubes. It’s gone from two nesting bees in 2015 to over 100 this year. Next year I should have twice that many to help pollinate. I love giving Nature a helping hand.

Here's more about Mason Bees:

Readying My Mason Bee Hotels 
Revitalizing a Bee Hotel
Drilling Nesting Blocks
Building a Simple Bee Hotel

Do you have native bees where you live? Here's a resource to get started. Also, plant pollinator friendly flowers in your garden.  Here's another resource for planting a bee friendly garden. Bees need all of our help. -- Margy

Cabin Journal: Bumblebees in Daffodil Tents

Bumblebees in Daffodil Tents

Bumblebees come early each spring to my floating garden. Their arrival coincides with the blooming of my daffodils. The bumblebees like them for two reasons. First, they have pollen available when most other flowers haven't bloomed.

Second, the conical centres provide a protected spot for the bees to rest overnight in the cool weather.

A bumblebee waiting out the cool morning weather in its daffodil tent.

April 2, 2019

Out in the float garden my daffodils are in full bloom. I was afraid we'd miss them. The smaller ones on the cliff have seen their prime, but the large ones are a beautiful sight looking out from our cabin porch. And we aren't the only ones enjoying them, the bumblebees are all over them, even resting inside like before - bumblebees in daffodil tents.

As you can see, I use photographs to guide my drawings. In this illustration, I tried adding shading to the image.  Do you use photographs as a reference for drawing and painting?

If you would like to see my RV travel Friday Paint Party journal entry for today, please click here. -- Margy

Cabin Journal: First Narrows

I've kept journals about life at our water access only float cabin on Powell Lake in Coastal British Columbia since its purchase in 2001. We began as occasional "cottage" dwellers while still working as educators in Los Angeles.

After retiring in 2005, as U.S. citizens we could spend six months a year up the lake. In 2008, we became Canadian permanent residents with no time restrictions. Now as Canadian citizens, our float cabin is an all-seasons home.

Now that you have a bit of the backstory, here's an excerpt from my most recent cabin journal. Starting with Volume 12, I'm including ink and watercolour pencil illustrations.

March 27, 2019

We woke to a light southeast breeze coming through the bedroom window. I checked the weather and it was going to increase by 11:00. That would be the time we would arrive at the Shinglemill Marina on Powell Lake after a quick grocery stop at Quality Foods. I suggested we stay one more night in town. Coming home after a long stay in the States is always hectic. It would give us some extra time to get caught up on mail, town chores and shopping.

It was a good decision to wait a day. The lake was calm and glassy smooth. The sun was low for a good picture of the cabin, but I got a good shot entering First Narrows.

I think the illustrations add a lot to my journal entries and will be great remembrances in years to come. -- Margy