Furb & Phineas

On Thursday we discovered Furb had a sibling who was quickly named Phineas.   All along we were pretty sure there were two baby Great Horned Owls but we only ever saw Furb, until Thursday when we spotted the entire family hanging out together in a tree, well Mr. & Mrs. G.H. Owl along with Phineas were in one tree and Furb was in his favorite tree across from them. We know Furb is three weeks old and we are pretty sure Phineas is older because he can fly much better than Furb.

This morning I went to look for them and they were all gone. The Park Manager told me both Furb and Phineas were back down on the ground which wasn’t good news since the park is full of young children and dogs. Young children like to run up and visit Furb but Furb’s parents are very protective and will swoop down on anyone who gets too close. Now dogs are another issue, they are suppose to be kept on leash while they are in the park but some people don’t think that applies to them and those dogs have no problems running after Furb :frown: In fact one small dog was almost on the loosing end when mama owl swooped!

We went on several walks today trying to find Furb, Phineas and their parents but they were very illusive. While we didn’t see the owls we did enjoy the smell of the wild roses that are starting to bloom.

As we were making dinner hubby looked out the window and noticed Furb hiding in the bottom of a tree.

Daddy owl was right above Furb keeping an eye on him. Mommy owl was in another tree fighting off the crows.

Furb hung out at the bottom of the tree while we ate dinner. Hubby had to make many trips outside to keep people away from him while we ate.

Just after dinner we looked out the window and saw him climbing up to a higher branch.

Thinking he was safe we decided to go for a walk.  But before we got to far Furb had fallen back out of the tree and was down on the ground again.

We went for a quick walk past my plum tree and noticed it is loaded with fruit.

When we arrived back at our site there was a crowd around our truck … yup there was Furb sitting in front of our tire, he was trying to move to a safer spot.

It didn’t take him long to scurry across in front of the shed and start climbing up another tree.

I’m sure Furb is thinking “Phew I’m almost there!”

Around the time Furb was almost settled mama owl took off after a group of crows and that is when we finally noticed Phineas up in a tree.

As I walked back to Maxx I noticed Furb was giving himself a good cleaning and once that was done he settled down for the night.

Until next time …

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Daddy, Mommy, Baby … our Shed Family is Complete :-)

Three years ago hubby offered to help our son-in-law build a new shed in their backyard with the proviso that we could use a section of it to store some of our items. We had things that we took south during the winter and we needed somewhere to store them in the summer, and things that we used during the summer but needed to store during the winter. This resulted in “Daddy Shed”.

Unfortunately this is the best picture I can find of Daddy Shed. I know I have a better one but I can’t find it ☹. Daddy Shed is big and has lot’s of storage shelves. Daddy is insulated, because it can get cold in the winter and very warm in the summer. Daddy has plywood walls, and along with shelves he also has a workbench with lot’s of power outlets. Daddy’s colour scheme matches our daughter’s house.

Last year we took our site at Cocopah RV Resort as an annual site, meaning it was ours year round. We didn’t do this because we planned on spending all winter in Yuma, we still want to tour around and see other places, but we really did want to have somewhere to store our Christmas decorations that we use in Yuma and we wanted a refrigerator/freezer to give us extra space. This resulted in “Mommy Shed”.

Mommy Shed is smaller than Daddy Shed and her colour scheme matches Maxx.

Mommy is also insulated, because the summer’s are so warm in Yuma, and she has drywall walls painted white. Mommy Shed has one set of shelves and a full size refrigerator. She also has an outlet on the outside for a future, small, outdoor kitchen.

We were so happy having the extra storage/fridge space in Yuma that we thought, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a small shed in Kelowna where we could store some items when not in use and have a spare fridge. At the campground we also needed room to store all the pamphlets I use to stock the pamphlet rack, so hubby asked if we could build a small shed on the site of the existing pamphlet rack and the answer was yes! Baby Shed became a glimmer in our eyes 🙂

Because he had to take down the old pamphlet rack to put up the shed hubby built all the pieces before we assembled it … no this wasn’t a kit (none of the sheds were kits), the whole shed was hand made by hubby 😀

Baby Shed at full term and ready to be delivered ☺

Once everything was ready he removed the old pamphlet rack and within a few hours Baby Shed was delivered.

Baby Shed, being the baby, is the smallest of The Shed Family.

The extended roof on the left hand side of Baby Shed is to keep the rain off the pamphlets which will be housed on the left hand wall.

Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of Baby Shed in the two days that followed her birth, but here she is at three days old!

I really love how Baby Shed looks and she does a good job of displaying the tourism pamphlets … no idea why she is a she, she just is ☺

The left side of Baby Shed holds a large pamphlet rack and bulletin board.

Baby Shed also holds a full size fridge and shelving unit but she does not have as much other storage as her parents, she has no insulation, and studs for walls. We will not be leaving anything in Baby Shed when we go away for the winter so she doesn’t need insulation.

Baby Shed was painted what I call Campground Brown so that she fits in with other park buildings and blends in really well with the landscape.

We are very happy with our shed family and don’t expect any additions 🙂

Until next time …

My Vegetable Garden

Last year, at the campsite, I grew tomatoes and herbs in pots but I really wanted some peppers and onions for salsa and lettuce for hubby’s sandwiches but I couldn’t see growing them in planters. This year hubby had a great idea for a garden; he suggested we use one of the tree trunks that the contractors had cut down when building the new campsites. His plan was to lay the log lengthwise and cut out the center section so that I could fill it with dirt and plant veggies. Having our son come for a visit was the perfect time to put hubby’s idea into action … a young, strong man to manhandle the log into the truck and then into the perfect location on our site was a great idea 🙂 So hubby set to work to cut out the middle section of the log and our son did the rest … I have to admit I was pretty impress when he hugged the log and lifted it into the back of his truck! I may have made them roll it into a few locations on our site but it was soon placed in the perfect spot.

The next day I had my plants in, lettuce, cilantro, thyme, basil, and rosemary (I had to put the peppers in a planter as I didn’t have room for them). Now a week later my veggie garden is growing nicely 🙂

Until next time …

The Sights at Bear Creek Provincial Park

I really enjoy my morning walks around the campground before anyone is awake, as well as the ones later in the day.  I thought I would share some of the sights I’ve seen during the month of May.

The sandbar in the creek is now completely covered in water.

Early in the month the leaves filled in and now our site is harder to see from the road.

I love the Oregon Grape when it is in bloom.

It is interesting watching the Osprey land in their nest. They can often be seen with big fish in their talons flying back to the nest.

This is Furb (the park staff named him ☺). He is baby Great Horned Owl who fell out of his nest, apparently this is common. He lived under a bush, with mommy nearby protecting him, for a little over a week at which point he was able to get back up into a tree.

Our son’s RV in our lot. They stayed for eight days and we all had a great time and we had plenty of room!

My friend the Beaver. He is usually swimming in the lake when I take my morning walk.

The plant with white blossoms is a Bridal Veil Spirea, the park is full of them.

Picture of Furb taken last night … wow has he ever grown in the last nine days when the previous picture was taken.

Until next time …

Is The Bridge Coming Down?

Last year several trees came down on the bridge causing major damage. Later in the year three other trees were topped to avoid further damage but a large section of the trunks were left for nesting birds. Fast forward to May 3^rd of this year and now two of those trees were ready to topple into the creek, which could possibly cause the creek to dam and create more problems, so they were removed.

Equipment was brought in to pull them out before they fell in, so we spent a fun few hours watching them work.

Once the trees were removed all was going well until six days later, 9 May 2018, when we had a day of significant rainfall and the level of the creek rose … now there was a new problem. The rising water was moving fast and washing out the footing on one side of the bridge that crosses over Bear Creek to a section of the campground.

The third tree that was topped last year was also slowly falling into the creek.

The park manager made the decision to move those camping on the other side of the bridge back to the main campground just in case something happen to the bridge overnight. Several of us hung out waiting to see the tree fall in but we finally gave up when it was to dark to see. The next morning around 5:30 I walked across the bridge to check out the damage and while I was looking at a washed out section of the road …

I heard a creek and looked up to watch the tree fall gracefully into the creek. It happened so fast I didn’t get a picture :frown:

You can see the roots of the third tree in the water being held up by the cement footing.

Hubby spent the next day keeping traffic and looky loos away while repairs where made.

The closed sites where opened just in time for the weekend rush 🙂

Until next time …

The Water Is Rising!

I have finally had time to write a blog about the water levels this year versus last year. It was a lot more work than I thought it would be, I had to go back and forth between my 2017 and 2018 pictures to find matching areas near the same dates. I mainly wrote this blog for us as a record and to look back on next year, but I hope you enjoy it as well. 🙂

When we arrived at the park near the end of March the lake levels were the lowest we have ever seen them.

29 March 2018

The Province of British Columbia was working diligently to lower the lake levels by letting water out at the south end of the lake, but a few weeks ago they had let out all that they could without flooding further down the Valley. The lake is now rising very quickly.

12 May 2018

15 May 2018

Last year I was using a cement block (which you can see in the above pictures) near the end of the path down to the beach to measure the water level.

This picture was taken 15 May 2017

And this one was taken a day later. You can see how much the water came up overnight!

This picture was taken 17 May 2018 and the water is much lower than it was the same time last year.

While the lake is lower this year than last, you can see in the next three pictures how much the water has risen this year.

28 April 2018

12 May 2018

15 May 2018

The following are a few pictures from a different angle, last year versus this year.

7 May 2017

15 May 2017

18 May 2018

And pictures of the beach, last year versus this year.

5 May 2017

8 May 2018, much lower the same time last year because they had let so much water out earlier in the year.

These pictures were taken near the Beach Rental Shop and you can see how fast the lake came up this year.

14 May 2018

16 May 2018

17 May 2018

It was interesting to look at the pictures of Lambly Creek, also known as Bear Creek, last year and this year.

Picture taken last year on May 4th and the creek was already high and moving fast!

Picture taken this year on May 3th, the creek was running fast but not nearly as high as last year.

7 May 2018 the water level is nearing last year on May 4th.

9 May 2018 – At it’s peak, it stayed this way eleven days.

20 May 2018 the water level dropped down overnight! I can’t find a picture from the same time last year but as I remember the water level was still very high.

The creek may not have been as high as it was last year on May 3^rd but it did provide some excitement around that time … more on that in a future blog.

Until next time …

Happy Mother’s Day

I found one other cute picture of The Goose Family watching the rising water in the creek … so from The Goose’s and my family Happy Mother’s Day 🙂

Until next time …