Oh Sunny Day!

Each sunny day this time of year deserves celebration.

Can you see the line of clouds just over the treetops? That's evidence of the jet stream. The jet stream is an area of fast moving air where air masses meet. This shows we are in a fair weather pocket north of the jet - YEA!

Here's a link to jet stream maps from the California Regional Weather Server at the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences at San Francisco State University. For a change, the weather images don't stop at the Canadian border! -- Margy

Three Sunsets

On a normal day, we get two sunsets. The first is when the sun sinks below the Bunster Range to the west and direct sunlight leaves our cabin deck. The second, is when the sun's shadow reaches the top of Goat Island in front of our cabin. For us, that's second sunset.


But this time of year, we experience three sunsets. The trees across the Hole in the Wall start blocking the sun's rays at 3:15 pm. The sun's brilliance fades and the temperature instantly cools.


About 15 minutes later, the sun exits from the treetops and the warm direct sun returns.  Then it arcs lower in the sky heading for the Bunsters to set for a second time.


Finally, the shadow climbs up the side of Goat Island until 5:45 pm, pushing the last sunlight into the darkening sky for a brief twilight.

All of this happens at a much faster rate than in the summer. And of course, we have lots of cloud covered and foggy days with no sunsets.  I'll take three sunsets any time. -- Margy

Samantha's Quest of a Lifetime

Q is for Quest

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce a high school student from Powell River, BC, who dreams of going on a personal quest to Antarctica as part of an educational program called Students on Ice to learn about environmental issues and climate change. I wish I had embarked on such an opportunity.

I read about Samantha's quest in an article in the Powell River Peak. You can read the article and see her picture here. Samantha said:

I am excited and inspired by the natural environment and think it is important for my generation to learn about sustainability and climate change. I think that the hands-on learning of the expedition will teach me about world issues in a new and different way, and I want to be able to share what I learn with other students at my school and in the community when I get back.

The expedition will be from December 27, 2013 to January 10, 2014.  Samantha has a fundraising goal of $15,000 to become one of a select group of 70 students from around the world.

from www.studentsonice.com

Samantha is a community oriented grade 11 student, and is using money from her summer job to help pay her own way. Wayne and I decided immediately we wanted to donate to help Samantha with her quest. If you would like to help, go to www.studentsonice.com and use the donate button. Write in the message/instruction box that the donation is for Samantha (her last name is in the Peak article). The Students on Ice Foundation is a registered Canadian charity. Donations over $100 receive a tax receipt, but all donations will help this deserving girl on a quest. -- Margy

Stihl Chainsaw Maintenance

This time of year we use our chainsaw a lot. We are gathering wood to store for winter use in our Kozi woodstove.  Some wood we gather from the lake is a burnable kindling size, but to get larger chunks we need to cut small logs for splitting.

Lately, Wayne's saw has been hard to start and struggles when cutting even smaller logs. So he got out the manual for our Stihl chainsaw and broke it down to give it some good maintenance. Over the years, our good friend John has done this for us. But Wayne has learned a lot from him to become more self sufficient.

It was a bit scary to see all those parts on the picnic table. For one thing, a small nut or other part could roll off and fall through the cracks to the lake water below. The other thought was, would it all go back together and run.  But all went well, and we were back to our wood gathering project in no time. -- Margy

Preserving: Frozen Stewed Tomatoes

We enjoyed fresh tomatoes all October. Even though I picked them green in late September to ripen indoors, they turned out perfect. But when it came time for a trip at the end of October, I had a few left we couldn't consume.

I decided to stew the last and freeze them. It's so nice to have a regular size propane refrigerator with a large freezer at the cabin. It was one of the improvements we made in 2011 that has made our off-the-grid home perfect.

I diced the remaining tomatoes and heated them through on my propane stove (another of our 2011 upgrades). I used my Bernadin plastic freezer jars and got five half pints. They'll be handy to grab for soups, sauces, or casseroles.

I love eating food I've grown myself. In the winter, the garden is pretty dormant, so having a taste of summer makes me remember that the seasons cycle, and summer will return in due time. -- Margy

Blow Me Down

After our long bout with fog ...

... we had a front move through bringing lots of northwest wind.

The trees on the bluff gave up lots of needles to float on the calm lake the next morning. -- Margy

Cardinal and Gold vs Orange and Black

http://osubeaverstore.com

It's football weekend. Wayne and I came down to Oregon State in Corvallis to watch the match-up with our team from the University of Southern California. The USC Trojans met the Oregon Beavers for an excellent football game this evening.


The 31 to 14 winning results gave the Trojans a 6-3 record (2nd for the south division of the PAC12) and the Beavers a 6-3 record (3rd for the north division of the PAC12). Things are heating up with just a few conference games to go for the season.

While we can't make it to Berkley for the next USC game against Cal (Saturday, November 9, at noon), you can be sure Wayne and I will be watching it on television. Fight on! -- Margy