Sunday morning.  Drizzling rain but not too cold.  Cold enough to light the furnace though.  Dennis left yesterday for Nanika Lake where he will cook for Nanika Lake Outfitters for the week.  It is a great opportunity for him to get off the farm and to see some pristine country that few get in to see.

I will be chief cook and bottle washer here on the farm for the coming week.  6 dogs to feed, 8 ewes, 7 ram lambs and big Ben to feed and water too.  Not a huge task but it does force me to get up early.  The huge thing to get used to is that I have to make my own coffee and light the furnace each morning.  That is usually Dennis' task so I'm feeling rather hard done by today.  :)

Last night I made supper for one.  It was so nice to go out to the greenhouse and pick a cucumber, peppers, tomatoes and basil.

I also had a small chunk of sockeye salmon we caught so steamed that with some olive oil, butter, wine, Epicure's lemon dilly mix and Epicure's herbed garlic sea salt.  It was absolutely delicious!

 

We don't have running water up by the barn and the sheep corrals.  Our house and approximately 4 acres is severed from the rest of the farm by Colleymount Road.  We have some pens down here by the house which are used at various times for sheep, chickens, turkeys and dogs.  Right now one is occupied by Ben, our big ram, because he is just gettng too frisky if he is close to the ewes.  He still is rather love sick, creating a huge path along the fence line and calling constantly.  The other pen, accros from Ben, is occupied by Amigo.  Amigo is a Maremma livestock guardian dog (LGD) who belongs to our friends, Jim and Leah.  After Jim's stroke, Leah is spending most of her time in town, naturally.  Friends were coming by to feed the dog and cats but Amigo wasn't doing well.  He had lost weight and had terrible diarrhea.  I volunteered to pick him up, get him checked out at the vet, and see if we couldn't get him back to good health.  The food he was eating had corn as the first ingredient.  Most dogs are unable to digest corn.  Dogfood companies should not be allowed to even produce and sell this kind of dog food in Canada.  Anyway, poor Amigo was in rough shape so Leah was thankful that I would tend to his care for the time being.  She has enough to deal with right now and it gives her peace of mind knowing there is one less thing to worry about. 

Anyway, going back to the whole water thing.  So, until we can afford to put a water line in up to the barn and corrals, we obtained a tank that we can fill and take up to the barn area.  The idea was to fill it down by the house, then take it up on the tractor forks to the barn area and fill the water troughs from there.

Unfortunately I did not get a picture of what happened next.  Dennis had the water tank on the tractor forks and was filling the tank.  While the tank was filling, suspended in the air, he went and had coffee.  The next time I looked, the back wheels of the tractor were in the air with the forks and tank on the ground.  Of course the small tractor could not lift the tank full of water, so he had to drain the water out until the wheels touched back on the ground.  It's a huge tank so even a foot of water depth is a lot of water, but there is no way we can haul that tank full of water up to the barn.  This winter I will investigate the cost of putting in running water up to the barn.

Since it is a slow news day here on Dogstar Farm, I thought I would pass on to those who are interested in this area, that now is the time to buy property on Francois Lake.  Prices are rock bottom.  There are a few places for sale on the north side, which is the preferred side for most, as you have the south exposure plus you don't have to take the ferry.  There is a place down the road from us that is on 78 acres.  The house is built on it's own peninsula in the lake.  It is a post and beam house, beautifully done, with a full unfinished, walk out, daylight basement.  It was meant to be a B&B but due to family difficulties the place is now up for sale.  The asking price is $395,000!!!!  If you are interested, go to MLS N210356 and see what you can get here for $395,000.  She is open to offers.  To me, it is the deal of the century.  Francois Lake seems to be ignored by the people of BC.  I'm not sure why.  I guess the trade off is climate vs crowds and crime.  Some people pay more than that for a summer home.  This place comes complete with 2 bay garage with suite above, huge diesel generator, and the potential for the most beautiful B&B ever.  No, I'm not getting commission.  I just think it is a steal for the right person.

Ok, time to tend to the animals.  Bye for now.
Here is a picture of the sunrise the other day: