Do you know these creeps?

With Halloween only hours away, we have a couple creeps hanging around.  This guy:

And this guy:

And here's a few more of each of them:

Here's a shot of their house:

And a group photo:

Those are my halloween pumpkins.  I'm getting lazy (or old?) so only three this year.  I tried food coloring on the inside of the centre one above.  It didn't work out so well although it kind of looks like brain matter in the pictures, eh?

No photoshop here

I haven't photoshopped, touched up or altered this:

Yes, Dan's got messy hair and hasn't shaved in more than a week but do you see the ball? 

See the ball here:

Looks fake, don't it?

A picture

If we had of had kids, you might see less pictures of our dog.  However, that is NOT a good reason to have children.  So, you are stuck with our dog:

Whadda ya want now, lady?

I should have trimmed that long grass that is growing from the ground because it looks like it is coming out of her nose.

When is the last time you drove through the Fraser Canyon?

I really like driving through the Fraser Canyon.  Except that one time about ten years ago when we were travelling in February and hit black ice while passing another vehicle.  We ended up sliding sideways (ie looking out the passenger window gave me the view of the highway that we should have had while driving straight ahead) right past the car we were passing.  Scared that other driver as much as it did me - which may explain my dislike of being a passenger.

Now, back to what I was talking about.  The Fraser Canyon.  The pictures are a bit fuzzy because we were driving and I was messing around taking pictures as we were moving.

This is the ferry at Lytton:

A little further along heading east:

Still going.  We didn't see any white water rafters this time.  At some point we WILL stop to get pictures though when they are out on the river.  The picture below is a huge rock in the middle of the river, with rapids swirling around.  The picture doesn't show it very clearly though.

And then we get east (north east?  Did I mention I am directionally challenged) of Cache Creek, see how the landscape changes:

Yes, that is my reflection in the window.  Like I said, I was messing around with the camera while we were driving.

So, if you (J & T from the USA) are thinking of moving back to this neck of the world, this is just a subtle reminder of what you are missing!

Whiskey Jacks

First, you readers from Alberta should know that whiskey jacks are birds, not Jack on whiskey. 

They are also known as grey jays.  They mate for life and tend to kick all but one kid out of the nest after they are old enough to fend for themselves.  He/she who doesn't get kicked out has to stick around and help care for the next batch of babies and then he/she gets the boot along with those that have recently arrived, except for one, and the cycle continues. 

This might explain why the show up in groups of three when begging for food.

Dan was feeding them out of his hand this time:

Good stuff, thanks man.  But could ya bring some seed next time, please.

They are scavengers too but are nice to look at and don't make a whole lot of noise when they are near by.

Brooke sat, somewhat patiently, waiting for feeding time to end:

Bread?  There's poultry right in front of me!

When the bread was gone, this one was getting brave:

What you don't see in the above picture is Brooke fighting the urge to lunge for lunch.  At home the little finches are all around her when she lays in the grass.  They collect her fur and use it in their nests.  She does put the chase on the blue jays and crows though so that may explain why she doesn't really care for these guys (and I gave them some of her kibble one day - she wasn't impressed).

They take the food and hide it in nooks and crannies of branches and in the ground.  This one thought the decorative house might be useful, but no such luck.

I'm not curious, I just wanna know if you have more food.

Let me show you the door

Well, the birds (and if you can believe it, we had bees even when the temp was near or below zero) were hanging out with us.  We had a black and white woodpecker who was checking out our decorative birdhouses. 

What the heck is this?

He was very pushy and wanted in:

No chimney either, what gives.

Aahh, here's the entrance.

Sorry charlie, the houses are decoration only.  We will be providing accommodations at some point that are sufficient for their purposes.  All in good time though.  I need time to research the black and white woodpecker (and the grey jay which you will see pictures of soon) to see what they prefer for accommodation.

Not giving up, this guy left the cluster of houses and found this one hanging next to the deck:

What I did not take a picture of was the hole the little bugger pecked into the side of one of the 'decorative' houses.  Took one wall out nearly completely. 

The tree - again

Last night after much fiddling I finally figured out how to post pictures.  Something had changed in the blog world but I managed to figure it out and now use Picasa web.  Tonight I figured I better have a look at what it's all about.  There's some pretty cool features for photo editing.  Check out the tree now:

I'm gonna have some fun using this!

We got some snow

Albertans will laugh at the amount but we did get snow - just a skiff though.  And, the temperature was cool:

Not bad for October 14.

But three days before the snow it was MINUS TEN at 7:00 a.m.!  I did not get a picture of that temp though - soon as Dan and Andy left that morning Brooke and I scurried back inside to warm up.

Now for the snow:

Snow?  Looks more like frost, doesn't it?

Speaking of frost, is that frosting on the branch?

It was gone as soon as the sun was out but it was nice to have around.

Just a tree

We are back after another week in the Cariboo.  I had lots to say but have been messing around trying to post something for an hour now.

If it works this time, this is a tree:

A tree I really like to see each time we drive up.  Dan stopped this time so I could take a picture.  Anyone who has travelled with Dan knows you don't stop, unless absolutely necessary.  He is softening on that though.  Heck, he must be really softening on the 'no stopping' rule if he is stopping so I can take a picture of a tree!

Stick around, I've got more - and it may even be more interesting than a tree.

It's sure been quiet around here.

It really has been quiet around here for a few weeks eh? Well, that will change, in a week or so.



A couple of pictures and short story, to hold you over.


I mentioned the 'squatters' in a picture a few posts ago. Brooke is constantly on full alert, watching for the little buggers to get too close. Well, they have taken to using the truck as a 'safe' zone where Brooke can't get at them. Then they started stealing some insulation from under the hood. Dan and Brooke decided to check it out.





They started by looking under the hood:





Brooke thought she saw something in the wheel well:

They did not find anything, but I'm sure the dog will keep looking.

My new camera arrived - complete with a small novel of instructions on how to operate it. In the not too distant future you should be able to come back and see pictures like this:

Only next time, there will probably be frost, ice or snow involved!