Outpost Caretakers Week 4 ~ A Full Week

October 25, 2011

Wind, high water and waves.....that's how our week started.

Blasts of wind skimming across the water's surface gathered up droplets creating an effect that always makes me think of blowing snow.

As the day wore on the winds increased and small waves were dancing in the bay.

The other side of the coin or should I say, the other side of the dock on the same day, same time as the previous picture yet so calm. This is one of the highest tides we will see all year at 16.7 ft or 5.1 m.

With rain on and off it's a day to spend some time in the kitchen. I'm still working through cases of peppers, a box of cabbage, several bags of zucchini, and a flat of tomatoes. Dozens of meals.....cabbage rolls, stuffed peppers and spaghetti sauce now all sit in the freezer, in the quick dinner section.

After stuffing 50 half pepper shells and cooking them it was pretty clear what we were having for dinner tonight.

The skies have cleared but the winds continue to blow, the air misty with the lightest of rains giving us a day of rainbows.

We've become quite use to seeing the deer wherever we go and toss out the occasional apple peelings or carrot but this one, whom we call Sally, has become quite a regular sight at the back door.

Being self reliant and going with the flow are character traits that will serve you well when choosing to do what we do. Running through the routine check this and check that list, Mike came to the conclusion that we needed some new parts for the boiler. No problems, they are ordered right away but getting them here is not as easy. We let Ken know that it's not urgent so we await the parts on the Oct barge.

We have a fireplace and Mike and I had planned on having more fires this year. A temperature of 64 degrees through the day is fine but evenings tend to get a bit chilly and that is when the fireplace comes to the rescue. However there is also a cost to this and that would be wood. Not wanting to deplete the pile left by the summer crew, we have been scouring the forest for any fallen trees which we could utilize. Every nice day (translation = no rain) is spent chainsawing, chopping, splitting, carrying, wheeling, tossing and stacking . Tell you the truth I enjoy it all.

Washed up on the far end of the beach is a hefty old cedar tree which would be great for kindling, so Mike armed with the chainsaw made quick work of cutting away all he could. The chunks, although light now had to be carried down the beach, each step shifting under the loose pebbles than manoeuvring over an outcrop of jagged rocks to the ramp where we load them into the wagon which is pulled up the steep boardwalk where we then unload the wagon and begin the process of splitting the wood into thin slabs, like shingles, so we can make kindling. That part of the job complete the wagon is reloaded, pulled up to the steps at the back deck where we once again unload the wagon. This time the kindling just goes into boxes which I carry into the foul weather gear drying room inside the lodge, all other wood is tossed into the basement where it is stacked. This whole scenario will be carried out 3 more times to bring back all the wood that one tree will provide.

Sally who has begun to follow us around when we are out working, found all of this just a bit exhausting.

Till next week,

Heather & Mike

Outpost Caretakers








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JOHN BAKER
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