The Far Flung Ranges of the Empire

     When I first met my English great-aunts they enquired how it was living out there on the far flung ranges of the empire and being eleven years old with the perception that I was situated at the centre of the universe I had little ability to answer  their question.  Fifty some years later I am more able to understand the question, and have a good deal to say to the topic of living on the far flung ranges of the empire.  That would be the British Empire you know.
     In those fifty years the flag has changed, we no longer say the Lord's Prayer in public schools, and I doubt most of the population knows the words to O Canada, or God Save the Queen.  The school Christmas concert is almost extinct.  Apparently there is a move by the Politically Correct Gestapo (PCG) to make us all say Happy Holidays  instead of Merry Christmas.  I think I'll stick with Merry Christmas,as it is in fact Christmas I am celebrating.  I'm going to eat suet pudding and have Christmas cake too, even it has become fashionable to slag the best cooking in the world...English cooking!  All the things we really like; roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, fish and chips, shortbread cookies, bannock, bacon and eggs and beans for breakfast... the list goes on are now made the brunt of rude comment.  Back in the days of portion control rather than calorie counting  people didn't have to pretend they were living on carrot sticks and tofu burgers even they have a girth like John Bull.
     Here in my small place in the Empire our priest is 78 years old and came to Canada at age 65 after doing full service in Birmingham.  He came out for midnight mas last Christmas and gave all our students First Communion at Easter.  Who will take his place for the coming generations?  My students say the Lord's Prayer every morning in Carrier but who is saying it in English?  The people who are paying for private schools so their children don't grow up without culture, morals, and beliefs.  That is what it is like living here on the far flung ranges of the empire.

First Snow at Kluskus

First Fall

     It was way too slippery to take out a horse today so the boys, Muffy, and I went for a walk in the first snow.  I wanted to check how the road was as it is three days until I am suppose to go to New York to run the marathon.  I am wondering if I'll be snowed in here, or the mayor of New York will close the city for Frankenstorm.

Angus

  Angus doesn't care.  He is very happy that he has found another moose leg to chew and later regurgitate in the house. Fred is looking magnificent as usual and posing for his picture.  He is such a gentle dog and I think he wil be cold living outside while I am away. I'd like to get him a coat but they wouldn't be very safe running about in the bush. It would be too easy for him to get hung up 

The snow hides many faults  of the reserve.  It's like nature stepping in to do its own cleanup job.

 

     We went down to the creek and checked out the road.  The logging guys should plow to the 5K corner sometime tonight as they will be hauling tomorrow for sure. 

     The dogs think a walk in the bush is grand.  Even Muffy didn't complain about the snow sticking to her feet.  The wood was quiet and peaceful and completely calming.

The Wrapped Round Bale

Casing out their new food source

 

 The first serious snow of the year coincided with bringing home the first large wrapped bale for the horses.  I locked all three of them in the small corral and drove straight into the large one and turned around in the corral so I could beat down some of the snow while going forward.  I tied the bale to a tree and drove away. With it sitting on a pallet it came off easily. With that good pallet that Alicia at Bouchie Lake Feeds gave me, I think I could have just pushed it off bracing myself against the drybox. After such success  I  then proceeded to slip sideways coming down the hill and tagged my bumper on an almost buried stump.  Bugger!  Not too bad though...these new platic bumpers go back on pretty easy.  I was able to get it up into the trees so they are protected while they eat.  That keeps the mess away from the gate as well. If they have to pull it out of the holes in the wrapper it should slow them down a bet.  I also hope it maks it asier for veronica while she is babysitting them while i go to New York for the marathon.

The Ponies

I finally got the time to take Nikki out for a spin and she was as spinny as Aydin was on Sunday.  Rene must have some RICH pasture over there at Minton Creek.  I chopped a bit off her feet and she was hopping up and down the whole time.  Meanwhile, Blueboy got so excited he actually rushed out under the stall guard across the little gate...I thought that would be impossible, so now I have to put the wheelbarrow in the gap.  He didn't just make it easy for me to catch him either.  those two little pony ratbags need some serious work!

There are lots of deadfalls on the road to Squirrel Lake  again.  That wind brought down lots of the bug killed pines . They are hard to get around as there is so much crisscross stuff down throughout the bush.  I had a nice little spin for about an hour and got her back across the bridge without dismounting.  I think she was frightened by the hollow sound when her hooves hit the  bridge deck.  She was trying to get me to believe that she was afraid of everything she saw, but I didn't buy it!

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie and Cats Too

I missed posting on Sunday and Monday as I was exhausted from all the horse hauling on the weekend.  We had a brutal wind storm here last night and I was wakened from my sleep several times last night. That is very unusual for me and I certainly sufferd for it today...I was yawning like crazy all morning.  Two huge poplar trees came down and one almost blocked the road. That wasn't far from my place so I probably heard it come down and woke up.  The horses seemed to be OK through the whole thing. I checked a couple of times and they were up the hill in the trees. 

Mickey just came over for a cuddle, and the latest pup is vying for a comfortable position for sleeping...he is presently considering the lazy-boy as Fred isn't using it right now.  Mickey is under the coffee table on the shag rug....Fred has the settee....poor puppy is is hanging off both sides of the door mat. Meanwhile Patrick and Angus have positioned themselves on the fluffy red mats as it shows off their superior fur colours.  Muffy is being fragile and sulking under the chair waiting for the sheets to dry.  My clothes line broke yesterday in the wind and I am drying sheets on chairs in front of the electric heater in the kitchen.

Hauling Aydin After He Hauled Me

Sunday I went to Williams Lake to pick up Aydin and got in on the poker run at Rene and Karla's.  Aydin was in full race mode and was a turkey the whole way.  I was worried that he would be overtired for the long trailer ride but there was nothing I could do about it.  He was out to pass everyone and power up the hills and all his usual tricks.  It was a good thing I had the double bridle on him...I just about didn't bring it as I thought he would be calmed down after a month with no grain.  I was wrong.  I guess the pasture at Minton Creek is pretty rich although Nikki seemd to have slim slightly.  Anyway it was a great ride and I got home in fairly good time.  Aydin likes his digs here and is very happy to be back with the ponies.

Veronica was over today to get her instructions for taking care of all the animals while I am away in Victoria.  Hope all goes well with that.  School is starting to settle down but Silvain is not coming to school in the afternoon.  Neither is he eating any lunch!  I am concerned!  I spent at least an hour of teaching time diddling around trying to arrange rides for what are suppose to be full grown adults to get to their jobs.  It is ridiculous, but apparently they consider it their right to be taken care of into middle age.  That was my rant for the day, obviouly brought on by being overtired!

Richard's mother's coats were well received and gone in less than half an hour.  It was good to see that they would be appreciated and used.  My supper is ready in the microwave...left overs from Sunday still.  Will run on the treadmill to get rid of some of my stiffness from my wild horse ride on Sunday...it was as gruelly as if I had run it myself and I have kinks in places I never have when running!

Squirrel Lake Field Trip

When we went on our cultural field trip last Saturday, September 22, I took the campfire corn popper with us and tried to pop corn over the fire.  The first try went up in smoke.  Popcorn is sort of like marshmallows except you can't blow it out once it is ignited! I tried again and eventually got enough popped that everyone had a styrofoam cup full.  I got the burnt stuff on the bottom of the popper for myself. I guess that could be considered a successful wilderness endeavour.

Braving the smoke...the dogs are impressed!

Popcorn Flambe!

Eating up the burnt stuff...we had some kind of fake cheese and salt combo to sprinkle on.
     We forded the river in the back of Tony's truck...that was the whole school plus Muffy and Snoopy who are to little to ford on river on their own furry feet.  I was wondering what a public school board would say about insurance for such an endeavour.  The staff were ready for hip relacements by the end of the trip.  The road is decidedly bumpy!

Three Musketeers

Here are the three musketeers playing in the corral.  There is no off switch on any of them.  They are a formidable pack of hounds to have along when you meet a bear though.  Angus, the big black and white "border collie type," goes straight at a bear with no hesitation, so the others join in the foray and bear goes up the nearest tree.  It makes me feel a lot more confident about running in the bush.  As far as Angus being a border collie type...that must be the longest undefended border, "border collie type."  He weighs a hundred pounds.  He is the right colour for a border collie and has those perky ears so I have to give the vet marks for that! The other two are also "dog" types...mutts for sure, but a very merry band of pups all in all.

Tribute to Trixie

Blueboy is looking well fed standing in his pile of hay.  He is very frisky now that he is getting oats night and morning.  I wonder if Rene will be able to thin him down a bit . Blueboy, Aydin, and Nikki are staying with Karla and Rene for the month of September while I get things organized up here at Lhoosk'uz.  I hauled in fifty bales of good grass hay late Friday night.  It was quite an adventure.  I met the guy at Sylvia's Cafe and then we went out to the ranch which is about 5 kilometres toward Nazko.  I thought I would be able to take about thirty bales but he got fifty on and tied down.  I was worried about losing them and I did lose nine.  I was really grumbling and thought I would go out and look for them after the field trip on Saturday but as I was heading down to the school, there they were on the road in front of William's cabin.  I was tremendously relieved to say the least.  I ran up, grabbed the truck, threw them on, and packed them under the porch in my cunningly devised hay storage area.  Hope it keeps the wild horses out!
     Here is one of the last pictures of Trixie.
She died of a stroke this summer. I came back from town and she had fallen and couldn't get up at their drinking spot at the lake.  I couldn't get her up on my own, so I phoned Milt and Carole Law and they came over and had the wit to bring along Buda, who is the new "young" guy that is living in Puntziville.  We heaved her up but she was pretty wobbly so we propped her up all the way to the corral.  I had to keep her in from then on as I could tell that she wasn't going to be able to navigate down to the lake for drinks any longer.  She hung on for a couple more weeks and then I found her down in the corral. I thought I could just nurse her through to the end but when her lungs started to congest she started to panic so I drove down and got Milt and he came with the pistol and she was gone before she knew what was up.  Milt dragged her up to what is now named "Hoof Hill"  She was just a great old mare and she ruled the herd till her dieing day. She was a rescue horse from Alberta, who took a fancy to Aydin so I brought her back with us.  Her master had died and she wasn't being properly taken care of by the people who had her, so they gave her to the woman where I was boarding Aydin as a "trail horse".  One ride and Jardia knew she was never going to pack dides around. She was just too quick and lifey.  She was well trained and a great ride.  Larrisa and I had a great time riding around at Pyper on her and Aydin>  She must have been thiry something then and was still a going concern.  She was just a great horse and had a beautiful trot.  I think she must have been some sort of gaited breed.  I would have guessed just a standardbrd but her cantered seemed too  smooth. Well whatever the breed she was a great old girl.

Today, they finished up the gates for my big and little corrals.  I am getting pretty stoked to go get my horses  or maybe I should say horse and ponies.  There should be lots of great rides around here I'd like to do a couple of days out past Squirrel Lake but I don't imagine I will get it done this fall.  It will be pretty buzy between now and the Victoria and New York Marathons.  Yvette can't make it to Victoria so I will take the early start for the full and take my time...sort of the long training run for the New York ING.  I will train Veronica to do the horses next week and will take Muffy with me as far as Elvis and Izzy's place.  Shari emailed me that she will not be going to Victoria either so everybody seems to be crapping out on me.  It will be like the Vancouver Marathon, but I enjoyed running alone.  There is really no pressure to go above your own pace as Yvette isn't waiting at the finish line with here stop watch.

Kluskus...Up North of Chilanko

I've moved to the Lhoosk'uz Reserve, which is about three hours west of Quesnel on the Nazko Road and the up the 3900 and 4000 roads to the end.  I am the principal/teacher...chief cook, and bottle washer at this tiny isolated reserve. This is my second yeaar here and I am bringing up the horses next weekend.  The youth work program sprung for the money to build me a corral and it is a little beauty.  I had no idea they were planning on such an uptown effort when they began.




Looking into the small corral



Aydin and Blue in the large enclosure