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