Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme...

It's time unwind and find out what's going on under the plum trees.

And the weather could not be nicer as I headed over by land and water......

I was thinking about camping in my tent on my property, however the forecast suggested rain.

Decided that I was not up for camping in a tent, in the rain, on the sloped ground.... 

It seems I may be getting old and grumpy..... so what better way to counter act that- without actually sleeping in the tent in the rain on the ground that is sloped. ...

I decided to stay in a treehouse!

It was just big enough for the double bed, bedside table and a chair. 

There was electricity, but no waterworks up high.

Just over the rails was a energetic little stream. 

Very peaceful to fall asleep to... Sounded like it was raining all night. 

A bucket placed on the deck here was a good idea for getting up in the night. 

Here is the view from the porch.

There was another little building with a bathroom which included waterworks and a nice hot shower. 

The property had several little cottages, a tea house, gardens- both flowers and vegetable. There was a big covered area that was basically an outdoor kitchen. There were some areas just for sitting and a place to work on the bonsai trees. 

The next day it was time to check in with the plum trees... 

The grass has definitely grown!

The yellow plums were looking nice. 

Nothing doing on the apple tree. 

Between last year's over production of little ping pong balls and this spring's pruning, I am willing to bet I will not have apples this year.  That's ok.

Hazelnuts are thinking about it... 

Plums and figs.... I love my trees. 

This looked too pretty walk on!

The parsley in the green house is towering about on it's way to seed. 

And the oregano, sage and rosemary are looking and smelling wonderful!

The thyme is pretty. 

Not sure what it is... 

But it too, sure is pur-dee!

The cherries look like pits. Neighbour says it's not going to be a good year for cherries... So maybe they are supposed to be bigger by now. I picked them in July last year.

Someday soon a house will be in the grasses there...

Plums plums plums plums....

When the sun catches these they sparkle like they have little lights in them. 

Who remembers those fiber optic lights from the 70's where the multi coloured lights traveled to the ends of the fibers? Okay these are not like that ... But I just thought of them. 

More random flowers...

Ah, life undertheplumtrees ....

I think the gardens near the tree house had a rose like this one below. This is at a friend's house nearby. Once the house is build I will figure out how to grow from a cut of this rose. I just love the scent. 

And then time to relax near the water...

As the sun began to set I headed back to the tree house gardens and had a nice chat with the proprietor over a glass of red wine I purchased earlier. 

Oops forgot to eat. I walked back down to the waterfront to find dinner. 

A great meal at a Thai restaurant while watching ferries and sun sets. 

Sleeping in a treehouse is fun. Only a couple of mosquitos at night, so the open window with no screen is not an issue. Very restful sleep. Here is the view in the morning. ..,

Sorted out tax bills, survey bills, chatted with neighbours, dinner with friends, watched a stupid comedy at the cinema. A relaxing day which included much staring up at the sky though the plum tree. 

As I write this now on my bench under my plum tree, I listen to the distant crows and closer robins, towhees, woodpeckers, humming birds and the distant kids playing in the school yard.

But I digress....

And nearing the end of the day yesterday, at the waterfront as I watched a woman walk back from the break wall ... Suddenly two deer appeared. We watched together and had to step back to give them room to explore the area. 

If a bear shits in the woods... I guess deer can pee in the ocean!

And then the sun was finally heading down, so I headed home to the tree house. 

The next day I cut some herbs to bag and freeze. I picked up some craft beer for a friend and found the ferry back to the house that I hope will sell soon. 

Log Rolling

It was a real short visit this month.... overnight!

I needed to spend more time in the house that will sell soon. 

So I decided to make stop on the way home from a dive trip, rather than taking a separate trip the following week.  And this meant a different ferry... Very exciting!

I am told this crossing can get nasty and gets cancelled more frequently than other routes.

It was not one of those days luckily....

Almost there.... We are headed to the right. I say 'we' as I have dragged by dive buddy with me.

My property is up the small hill on the left.  Now I know what you're thinking.... But from there 

you can't see it and to the best of my sampling over the past year, you can't smell it either.

...

It was good to be back! 

There was nothing in the height of bloom. The plum tree was last month and it appears the cherry tree and the apple tree were shortly after. And Ha!... I guess I missed a fairly large scotch broom at the property edge!

Last month I unbent this fence underneath the hazelnut tree where the bear had doubled it over. 

Looks like the bear has not been back as it is still in place. 

Or the bear has just decided to cross lots between the greenhouse and the shed where there is no fence!

I did a little weeding in here...

And I cut back some tenacious blackberries in here!

Look the herb garden is full of colour! 

Sage, oregano along with the rosemary.

These blueberries appear almost dead, but there is tiny new growth. There is hope.

I know I really should mow the grass. But it will just grow back and until I am here full time it seems pointless. I kinda trimmed a few areas. Then my dive buddy noticed that I do have a gas trimmer in the shed, and a little Gerry can of gas too. Put the spark plug back in, over to a neighbours house for a socket wrench to tighten. We pushed the primer button..... the button fell apart and it would not quite turn over..... It's been a few years. Next month I will take it somewhere for a tune up 

The cherry tree ... post bloom

The apple tree post bloom

And look my dump pile has flowers growing in it!

...

On the way to my dive trip I stopped in to meet someone at a company that will mostly likely do my build to lock up. We discussed floor plans, foundations, roof heights, windows.... It might just work this house building plan!!

Oh and my surveyor did some work and I have a site plan now as well. 

(Ultrasound for my baby)

So for fun I moved some logs where the house will be....

The log to the left will be the back corner of the house. The log on the right is a wall marker.

To the right of the house is room for a driveway or room to expand to a garage within the set back building area.

The front log marks the 6 ft deck, the second log is the start of the house...

Here is the front property line with the walnut tree and some shrubs.

Well a short visit it was.

Quick stop at the nearby beach.... will be my 'kayak boat launch' beach.

Or just a 'stare at the ocean' beach....

Meanwhile back to downsizing and house selling......

Bears and broom.

The yellow plum tree is sure looking pretty!

A quick walk around and I can see  my trees have been cut back/ pruned nice. 

I got out the tarp and set about finding a flat spot for the tent. ... I will have to make one sometime! 

Nah I will build a house instead. 

The neighbours and a few people passing on the street stopped to say hi and welcome....and to remind me the bear has been out recently.  

Hmmmmm....

Short walk to the neighbourhood pub for some dinner then back home to my tent. 

Will the bear come out? Will it rain on me? I can hear distant barking dogs, someone's bass, the wind, a few cars, rain drops on the tent..... and .... frogs? 

I wonder if I will get any sleep?

I know it was not rain, just the wind flapping between the fly and the tent.

But was it a bear?

About 3 am I had just rolled over and snuggled up into a fetal position when I hear something. There was something walking and then huff... Not a snarl or a growl, but it sounded mean. A black bear encounter when you are walking in the woods or in town in Whistler is not scary.... Go away bear!  But I was laying on the ground in a sleeping bag... It was scary.  I don't think I breathed for about a minute and I did not move for about 1/2 hr. My heart was racing.

Finally it was safe to move and I eventually got a bit of sleep as well..... Even after another early morning pee break to the bucket in the shed.

Breakfast worked well: cereal, orange and coffee prepared over the campfire stove. And a relax in my new camp chair, (Christmas present- thx).

So for much of the morning I sat up at the back of my property and deliberated whether to stay camping or to head to a hotel.... 

My back and hips did not like the ground... Not to mention the continual zipping and unzipping involved in hot flashes. .... Oops I mentioned it.

But camping was cheaper and I spent too much on last month's visit.....

My theory was the bear was walking down his usual path onto or off my property and he walked by my tent 1 1/2 ft to the side of this path.... And bear was upset with me. I mean black bears more often than not do not really want to encounter people. There may have been smells in my tent, but not food or garbage.

So I moved the tent nearer the side fence and then I parked the car between the tent and the path. 

After the big move it was time to get to work doing something. I decided to cut down some of the scotch broom. I got most of the big stuff, except two trees on the (other) neighbour's side of the fallen over wire fence.

And then I decided to bend back the wire fence next to the hazelnut tree to its normal upright state rather than the bear trampled doubled over state.

Then I just stacked punky logs of wood and collected shredded tarps that had long ago stopping keeping the wood dry. I did not finish the job, but it was time to quit.

I did phone the landscape guy so I could pay him, he did not answer and I left a message.

It was time to head to the rec centre, wash up and then have a sauna and hot tub. Quick dinner near the beach and off to see Rio 2. Kids movie, but fun!

Sadly the rain had started when I came out of the theatre and carried on into the night and the next morning.

It rained and it rained... And I stayed in my sleeping bag.

The phone rang and I think I won another trip with westjet.. But I hung up before the recording it explained it all.

Breakfast at my favourite spot. Then off to stare at the lake, catch up on emails and banking, call my Mom.... All while watching the SAR pilot practice searching and hovering for about an hour or so!    The rain stopped!

Oops look at the time.... Had to drive to the sweater store to see if there was a good one on sale.... And then grab a cinnamon bun, and one for breakfast.

Back home to the tent and the neighbours invited me to dinner! 
The neighbours agree there has been a bear hanging around, but think I heard their old dog that makes a similar 'huff' sound when she sees something... And she was let out for a bit at night.  

Ok so maybe it was the dog... But it was probably 'huff' ing at the bear walking by my tent!

I will add that for the second two nights of tenting the bear had not reappeared... in the rain, on the other side of the car... for the fence was still stretched tall.

I forgot to take a picture of the fence..

After a nice evening visiting back outside.... Rain is back.

Snuggled back inside and I can hear an aircraft.... And I can only wonder if the pilot is doing his night training now.

I will catch the ferry tomorrow and sail back to the house that will hopefully sell soon.