Wednesday 2 November 2016

Fighting the Wilderness

Living With the Wilderness

The summer was perfect this year, warm temperatures and dry, only raining at nighttime it seemed. It was perfect for growing just about anything. Besides my flowers and few tomatoes, it made the trees flourish with green and bushy leaves. Enjoyable to look at but unfortunately, blocking our signal for television and internet. We were left almost 3 months of spring without access or intermittent signal, and I was frustrated. We tried other service companies and finally heard about satellite wi-fi. We now have full access again and a relief as the option of moving for it never existed.

The Buck
The deer population continues to entertain and visit us and this autumn we have seen a few young buck. That is unusual as it is mostly does and fawns that feed in our fields. We have been given the view many times of a buck with a fine rack indeed this last few weeks. However, nature also seemed to look down gladly on the beaver population that had suddenly built a lodge and started to increase dams across the field. They soon got to our culverts that hold our driveway across the drainage ditch and take us to the road, our only access. My husband spent days at a time cleaning out the culvert to allow the build up of water to flow through once more. Despite our attempts to keep it clear it became serious when the days of rain came and our driveway began to flood and wash out in places. 


Alders Cleared
It was time for help as we were both exhausted and bruised and my back injury had returned. We had to open the drain ditches and take out the alder bushes which had grown and were blocking the flow as well as sending branches etc. down the rush of water we did release. That blocked it again. Once clear, with all the activity of machinery it seems the new tenants  thought the option of finding a new home was better than constantly rebuilding while we constantly reopened the ditch.  A friend constructed grates for the culvert so the furry engineers could not get inside and block the water. My husband had become quite familiar with the inside of the culvert over several days. It seemed a contest of wills. Also seen leaving that area was a number of muskrats. So as we clean up and resurface the driveway, we are relieved that the neighbours moved on and we have our access back and maybe a dry field eventually.

George in Culvert

Fighting the Wilderness

Fighting the Wilderness

The summer was perfect this year, warm temperatures and dry, only raining at nighttime it seemed. It was perfect for growing just about anything. Besides my flowers and few tomatoes, it made the trees flourish with green and bushy leaves. Enjoyable to look at but unfortunately, blocking our signal for television and internet. We were left almost 3 months of spring without access or intermittent signal, and I was frustrated. We tried other service companies and finally heard about satellite wi-fi. We now have full access again and a relief as the option of moving for it never existed.

The Buck
The deer population continues to entertain and visit us and this autumn we have seen a few young buck. That is unusual as it is mostly does and fawns that feed in our fields. We have been given the view many times of a buck with a fine rack indeed this last few weeks. However, nature also seemed to look down gladly on the beaver population that had suddenly built a lodge and started to increase dams across the field. They soon got to our culverts that hold our driveway across the drainage ditch and take us to the road, our only access. My husband spent days at a time cleaning out the culvert to allow the build up of water to flow through once more. Despite our attempts to keep it clear it became serious when the days of rain came and our driveway began to flood and wash out in places. 


Alders Cleared
It was time for help as we were both exhausted and bruised and my back injury had returned. We had to open the drain ditches and take out the alder bushes which had grown and were blocking the flow as well as sending branches etc. down the rush of water we did release. That blocked it again. Once clear, with all the activity of machinery it seems the new tenants  thought the option of finding a new home was better than constantly rebuilding while we constantly reopened the ditch.  A friend constructed grates for the culvert so the furry engineers could not get inside and block the water. My husband had become quite familiar with the inside of the culvert over several days. It seemed a contest of wills. Also seen leaving that area was a number of muskrats. So as we clean up and resurface the driveway, we are relieved that the neighbours moved on and we have our access back and maybe a dry field eventually.

George in Culvert

Tuesday 2 February 2016

Snowshoeing The Fields

new snowshoes
The possibilities of plein air painting has been made possible now with the purchase of snow shoes. I have often stood at the window and longed to walk out on our fields of white snow. Not having easy access to the woods and fields has bothered me in the winter. With George mowing the hay in summer I can reach the woods without fear of ticks in the high grass. Now I wanted that feeling in the winter. Why sit and stare at 49 acres with just the plowed area of the driveway to roam. We do keep on walking down the drive and along the road during winter 
A recent trip into the snowy wood, allowed me to photograph the old rusting car and see its deterioration after a few years. We saw tracks around the car that we were not sure of the animal that left them. I decide it was a coyote. I know we have them as its quite a deer haven so it follows the coyotes are around. We did see wolves once a few years ago. 

The snow shoes are handy for another venture. I went out to the front yard woods and overturned a bucket as my seat and did an ink of the snow on the trees. Now I can walk to the areas over the snow and be comfortable to paint for a while. I will have to attempt the task again as I wasn’t fully satisfied. That's an element of plein air that makes it different then studio work. Sitting in the cold adds a new experience. Now I can try the paint outdoors. My Snow on the Fields painting done from the window was shown in a local magazine. A true plein air would have me sitting in the fields.
Old car in woods


plein air of snow on old tree
I can see the snowmobile tracks from the window. We never hear them as they respect our privacy and ride far over to the right of our property. They were using our driveway by the brook to get around the water but that is further down our hill. Now I see they are back to crossing the brook itself near the beaver lodge. I would imagine that’s because with the beavers gone, the lake they built there is shallow now and freezes well. I would like to walk over to the lodge on snow shoes now. In the summer it is still too wet. I could also walk up the trail where the snowmobiles come out of the woods. Winter shots in the woods would be wonderful I expect. The possibilities seem endless with my new method of walking over the deep snow.
After the snow storm