Eighteen Inches!

On December 26, 2008 in the late afternoon the snow began to fall. It was a picture postcard evening; fluffy flakes gently cascading down sparkling like diamonds, the twilight deepening to a deep violet. Mmmm. An enchanted Christmas in the Kootenay's.

Then Cari and I woke up the next morning to 18 inches of snow. We can get that and more over the course of the winter but never in one evening. The goats were not happy. And neither were we.

Armed with snow shovels and a ladder we went out to do battle. Six hours later, we had cleared all the roofs, the driveway and the paths to the barn and goat shed.

The following are a few pictures I took the next day.

Snow on Back Porch and Greenhouse Path

Say NO To Wallpaper

Dear Previous Homeowner,

What were you thinking?

What were you thinking when you decided it would be a good idea to wallpaper the three foot wide hallway in what is now my mobile home? Were you having an identity crisis and it seemed like a good idea to put up dark green, textured, vinyl wallpaper and a patterned, floral border over vinyl clad wall board?

Or perhaps you were just craving a change? At the time, did it it seem like a brilliant solution to glue the seams down with carpenters' glue rather than to get a new haircut or a new color of nail polish?

Was Mercury in retrograde? Was it a blue moon? Were you abducted by aliens?

Please people, if you are contemplating wallpaper as a possible decorating choice, stop...shake your head... pour yourself another glass of wine and step away from the wallpaper sample books.

All of you that are guilty of this debasement of walls, you know darn well that when you sell your house the person who inherits your questionable decorating choice will be left with the tedious task of stripping off the paper. Weeks and weeks of scraping and sanding and more scrapping. Please don't open yourself up to bad decorating karma because it will come back around.

Unless you have a decorator and an income to hire workers to strip of the hideous paper when you get tired of it just SAY NO TO WALLPAPER!!!

Mourning The Loss Of My Trees

Take a good look at the before and after pictures to see what I am talking about. The front of our property is actually owned by BC Hydro as the lines run down our side of Rock Island Road. Living on a mountain side has it's downside as far as power outages. We experience frequent and prolonged outages all year round mostly due to trees falling on the lines.

This year BC Hydro crews were out cutting down all the trees growing under the power lines. I do support this effort to minimize blackouts and when the nice young men on the cutting crew came to tell me what they were going to do, I was polite and understanding. I knew it had to be done but seeing the results was so very sad.

In front of our veggie garden we had five Alder trees that created a lovely shade, dappled environment I had dubbed Snake Alley as the snakes loved to hang out there. The birds use to nest in the boughs and come into the garden to eat. These lovely trees also screened us from the road and neighbours.

On the other side of our yard we had twelve pine, cedar and hemlock. Again, these trees provided us with privacy from our neighbours and created a sense of security, of being hugged by trees all around us.

Now, we are completely exposed. When I walked out to survey what the crew had done I felt like I was walking around my yard naked.

Everything changes, new energy now flows on and through our property. I'm not sure yet if it's a good flow or not, time will tell. Funny how that one truth is so hard to grasp and accept even if it is a necessary change.

My Birthday Present

I am posting an email my sister, Tanya, sent me about my birthday present from her. She had asked what I wanted from London and I said I would love a pair of authentic Wellies.

Sometimes, it is not the actual present that is the gift but finding out the effort someone has gone to, to get that perfect expression of their love. So my little Sweet Pea, thank you for your love!!!

Lora, Lora. I have a confession, and today I felt like a fool! I lied about your birthday present being in the mail, it's not. It will be soon though!

Since I have been in London, I have been looking high and low for Wellingtons. Now, I've seen boots that look like Wellingtons... I have googled Wellingtons. I went to Camden looking for Wellingtons, again saw racks and racks of Wellingtons, but none of them said "Wellington" anywhere on them. I have asked friends born and raised in London where I can find Wellingtons.

The latest response from a friend was: the Burberry Factory shop in East London, the Outdoor Store in Haymarket, and a department store in Oxford Circus called John Lewis. I went to the Burberry Factory shop, and again found boots that looked like Wellingtons, but they were Burberry's and £500 which were out of my price range. I was starting to think, there must be Wellingtons somewhere!

But, I decided that before I go to another store, I would again get online. I looked at the site for John Lewis and saw "Wellingtons". Hooray!!! I found Wellingtons. So I trucked it down to John Lewis in Oxford Circus today, high street shopping. Found the shoe department, saw the Wellingtons, picked them up, and nowhere on them did it say, "Wellington". I thought I was crazy.

I went up to a clerk, and said, "I was on your site, saw that these boots that I have here in my hand are Wellingtons, but nowhere on the boot does it say Wellington." She said, "Wellington isn't a brand, it's a description of a style of boot." And then I understood that I have been looking for months for a brand name that doesn't exist!Well, I tried them on and bought them. They only had one style, the style that's in this season here in London. They do have pink in them, but no lavender, and are quite fun looking.

While I was standing in line to pay for them - and remember I'm in a department store in the heart of the city (snooty shoppers galore), the woman behind me said "And where are you going to wear those?" Which I actually thought was a strange question as I see Londoners in, what are apparently Wellingtons, often when it's rainy. I said with pride "These are for my sister in Canada and she is going to wear them while farming on her farm." I think she wanted to tell me that Wellingtons were for the farm, but I beat her to it.So my lovely Lora, I'm ruining your surprise, but I don't want to send you something you won't wear. (You don't have to click these links if you don't want to.) I got you these ones:
http://www.johnlewis.com/Fashion/Women's+Accessories/Women's+Footwear/ Wellington+Boots/8020/1/2/ProductType.aspxI can take them back if you don't like them, in the meantime I found this site:http://www.wellieboots.com/

Bye for nowLove you both lotsTanya

Lazy Days of Summer

It's August and the summer is quickly winding down. Seems like just yesterday Cari and I were celebrating the last of the winter snow melting. And now I've noticed that the light has already shifted. The intense clarity of the summer sun has given way to the soft yellow of the autumnal season. Sigh!

Although it was an unseasonably wet and cool summer it still had its charms nonetheless. Our garden did wonderfully well. Thank you Garden Deva's and Nature Spirits. The roses filled the air with their heady perfume and the forest continued to nurture us and keep us safe.

We had two new additions to the chicken coop (technically we had ten new additions but they went to a lovely couple that spoil them even more than we do). Cari came in the other day to announce she had named the two month old chick. His name is Rusty. Yes, Rusty the Rooster. We now have four roosters in our flock. Strangely enough they all get along. We're keeping our fingers crossed that the newest chickie poo is a hen. Please Poultry Goddesses, let this one be a hen.

When we are not working off the farm at our paying jobs, Cari and I have been busy bringing in the harvest and slowly getting the farm and house ready for winter.

I'm looking forward to September (my favourite time of the year). My first novel The Still Life of Hannah Morgan is being released tomorrow through Lilley Press Publishing and to me it marks the beginning of wonderful and new things to come.

If you would like to check out my novel visit www.lilleypress.com or visit me at my official website www.loradeeprose.com

The Still Life of Hannah Morgan

"The longer you choose to play it safe, the more miserable your life will become. The universe rewards risk my dear; you know what you need to do."

Hannah Morgan's life is at a standstill. Her dreams of becoming an artist vanished with the sudden death of her grandmother and mentor. To appease her distant and disapproving mother, Hannah gets a respectable job at a high-end day spa.

Instead of painting masterpieces, Hannah spends her days painting nails and giving facials to wealthy women. Her dreams for the future have become a hideous nightmare. And it just keeps getting worse. She catches her boyfriend cheating, loses her job, and has to watch from the sidelines as her best friend, Jasmine Blue, goes after her own dreams of owning her own salon.

Then she meets Aaron, a working artist, and finds in him a kindred spirit. And, to her surprise, she finds the courage to follow her dreams. When circumstances beyond her control threaten to destroy both her relationship with Aaron and her dreams of a bright future, Hannah fears her mother was right-that some dreams aren't meant to come true.

Genre: Romance

My first novel, "The Still Life of Hannah Morgan" will be released August 15, 2008 by Lilley Press. Come join me on August 15, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. EST in the Lilley Press chat room.

For more info on where to purchase my book please visit http://www.lilleypress.com/

What's New At Ravenwood

Summer took its time coming but now it's officially here and our days have been filled with gardening and working on the farm. Our veggie garden has already provided us with fabulous spinach and lettuce. The peas are on the vine and soon we will be enjoying those too. Everything is lush and green, the air scented with the perfume from the seven rose bushes we have planted around the house.

Last weekend we had a few scorching hot days. Yesterday and today we've had spectacular thunder storms. It was so hot we actually went for a dip in the lake and gave Bear, our dog, a bath. He was none to thrilled being a Great Pyrenees and not partial to water.

Quail, one of our Banty hens, hatched her first clutch of eggs. We had already promised the chicks to a friend but we did keep one for our proud little momma hen. He or she is already learning to fly but still keeps close to Quail.