Snow Day

We've had a meager snowfall so far this year, so we had to do some climbing into the mountains to find some. Even then, it was pretty frozen over. But that made driving and walking on the surface pretty easy. No need for snowshoes.

John, his dog Bro, Wayne and I went as far as we could drive. Bro got a quad assist. He's getting up in years and walking through the snow is hard work.


At the end of the road, we stopped to enjoy the sun and view. Our trip had two purposes. We wanted to find snow, AND we wanted to get above the fog and low clouds that had shrouded Powell River for days.  Mission accomplished on all fronts. -- Margy

Sleep Tight, Job Well Done

Last week I shared a post about our dear cat Stick Tail. I didn't have the heart to delete it. You see, Stick passed away on Saturday, January 11.  If you follow my blog, you know that Stick has been with us for a long time. We celebrated his 23rd birthday on January 1.  Since he came to us as a stray, we picked that for his special day.

Stick on the stairs in his float cabin home.

Stick wandered into our life and hearts (through an open kitty door) in 1991. He was bedraggled and had a shortened tail, most likely due to an encounter with a coyote. We invited him to stay. A visit to the vet gave him a checkup, shots, and a tail bob to fix the damage. His shaved tail earned him the lifetime moniker of Stick Tail.

David in Pomona with his kitty Jet.

Stick first lived with us in a cityfolk condo in Los Angeles. We tried to curb his outdoor ways, but old habits die hard. After Wayne and I retired in 2005, we moved north to our float cabin on Powell Lake. During that time, Stick had a live-in friend and kitty sitter, David. It gave David a nice place to live, and Stick a wonderful companion.

Constant companions.

In 2008, we sold our Los Angeles condo and moved Stick north to Bellingham to be closer to us, and to be a companion for my mom. We weren't sure if she would take to Stick, but it was a match made in heaven. Stick kept her company while Wayne and I were at the cabin. In 2010, when she became paralyzed, he became a constant source of comfort and cheer. Every night he would get into bed and wait for her to arrive. When Mom passed away at home in 2013, Stick was right there with her.

Jeanne with Mom in Bellingham.

For the last nine months, Stick has been a frequent traveler, back and forth between Bellingham and Powell Lake. We think he even learned to enjoy the car, truck, boat, and sometimes airline trips.  Like Mom always said, "It's just important to be together."  And we were, almost 24/7 for those last months. When we had to be away, our (and his) good friend Jeanne would keep him company and keep his food bar stocked.

Mom and Stick in Bellingham.

Our greatest fear was that Stick would go before Mom. But as Mom's caregiver Bonita said, his job wasn't yet done. But at the ripe old age of 23, cancer came to take it's toll. The only option was surgery and chemotherapy. Wayne and I couldn't let him end his life in suffering, even though we suffered through the decision. We will be gathering his ashes and taking him home to his float cabin.

The food bar.

Of all his homes, we think he loved the float cabin the best. He would go up and down the loft stairs twenty times a day (and night) to check out his well stocked food bar. His upstairs sleeping pillow was covered with one of Mom's handmade afghans. Stick loved to go out on the deck and nibble green grass that grew on a cedar log out back. He would lie on the warm cedar planks, or sit between us on the sofa before a roaring woodstove fire.

Stick at his float cabin home

Stick will be long remembered. There will never be another like Kitty Cat (as Mom called him) like him. So, good-bye Stick, sleep tight, we'll miss you, job well done. -- Wayne and Margy

Foguary

January is fog time in Powell River. In between rain coming off the Pacific, there are high pressure breaks that should bring us some much needed sunshine. But this time of year a forecast of "sunny" often means "foggy."

The fog can cling to the surface of Powell Lake for many hours. Some days it barely rises above the surface of the water and out of the tops of the trees.

On other days, the fog harbours ice. Fog depositing ice leaves frost encrusted trees in it's wake.

It's an amazing weather month, even if it is hard to get around sometimes. -- Margy

Brain Bucket

When you work in the bush, danger is around every corner. Work Safe BC keeps statistics about injuries and deaths among forest workers. As you can imagine, trees are big, chain saws are sharp, logging trucks drive fast, and lakes, rivers and oceans have their own types of dangers

It may be a small thing, but helmets protect our most important feature - brains. If you are in the bush, the "ambulance" may be your lifeline. If you are deep in the bush, maybe a helicopter.

In 2012, there were 459 serious injury claims and 1077 claims for short-term disability, long-term disability, and fatality claims. When our house is built, we use paper products, or many of the other forest generated commodities, we should remember there is a human being out there making our lives better and easier, even if theirs isn't. -- Margy

DC Lights

Living off the grid, you conserve energy. We generate electricity using solar power, a wind generator, a thermoelectric generator on our wood stove, and a backup gas generator. Even with all these, our batteries don't last long in winter. We don't use large electric appliances or heaters, but even energy efficient AC lights (LEDs and fluorescents) drain a significant amount of power.


At Marine Traders, Jim, the owner, showed us some pre-assembled DC lights we could run off our battery packs in the cabin. We've used the DC LED emergency light that came with the pack for several years, but it doesn't provide as much general lighting as the new bulbs.


DC lights are low voltage, and use virtually no power. This is a perfect solution for long winter nights. For now, we've hung two of the new lights over the sofa. Maybe we'll install some more permanent fixtures in the future.

Do you use DC lights or other appliances? What works well for you? -- Margy

Up the Lake

A calm day looking up the lake.


When we first came to Powell River, we heard people talking about going, "up the lake." At the time, we didn't know what they meant. Now we do!


Turning around, this is the view looking down the lake through First Narrows towards town. Everything was so calm I could get exact mirror images.

Want to know more about Up the Lake? Try Wayne's free Kindle book of the same title. Other free versions can be found at Kobo or Smashwords. -- Margy

You Can Teach an Old Cat New Tricks

Our cat Stick Tail celebrated his 23rd birthday on January 1. He's getting up there in years, and now has some difficulty jumping up onto the bed. He's a spoiled little guy. He likes to snuggle up with us, but gets up and down several times a night.


We hated to hear him land so hard on the floor on his way down, so we asked our good friend John to build him a stool.


It took several nights, but now Stick regularly uses his stool. I'm so glad you can teach an old cat new tricks, and that they can remember so well. -- Margy