Sunday, finally a calm cabin day.

Sunday morning at the cabin and maybe one half of a degree above zero.I could see my cabin cleansing fire of yesterday still smouldering, so I decided to keep cleaning up some of the dead wood over our five acres of land because in this semi-arid region there is a very limited time I can safely burn things outside.The day started in a much more relaxed way; in the clean living room with a review of my sketchbook...which I had plans for but had no time to work in... some foil baked fingerling potatoes with garlic and onions in a sort of cabin hash brown bake, and my usual tea.Maybe it's the waiting for the stove to heat up and boil the pot of water and cook the potatoes, but food just ends up tasting so much better up here.After breakfast I took a long walk over our property and had a good assessment of last winter.Some of our neighbours told me it's been a very long winter. Maybe that's the reason that the pack rat broke in and ate Dusty the bear, (and the sinew from some of the vintage snowshoes). But at least there was no sign of the beaver this winter!I've been trying to grow a weeping willow here in our little lake, (which is really a pond but has been named "lake" for the look of it), for the past 25 years and it seems I only end up growing winter beaver food, but this year the little willow is still there.The water in the lake is low right now and the undergrowth sparse, which means I can walk all the way around and check out every inch of the bank rather than using the meadow paths.Last night there was a chorus of frogs who probably live in the little swampy area where the skunk cabbage grows. One of them says the classic "ribbit, ribbit" and that gets the rest of them going.There are a couple of fallen aspens (thanks to last year's beaver), and I'm trying to decide how to, or if to, drag them out of the lake.That's me in my OOTD, (which I hear is a popular tag), some unknown brand cabin hat which came from who knows where, 80's Nordic wool sweater and no make-up. Yeah, that's how we do it!And here is the carpet of periwinkle which my grandmother planted 25 years ago.This is what's become of Chloe's childhood raft. It's a sort of living island now. Also can't decide what to do with it, but maybe it needs to stay in the lake and evolve.Here is the remains of last year's tent caterpillar nest. Ordinarily not a good sight, but this land is so big that even the tent caterpillar moths belong and are left alone to make their living.So I walked on exploring the lake banks and meadow and across the first three acres......and came to our river.The Gates river runs thru our land and is a protected salmon spawning stream. The water level is very low because most of the water is still locked up in the snowy mountains.Here is the morning view from the river, across the meadow, to the lake.Oh yes, one more beaver killed tree. This time one of the large blue spruces.It's caught up in the other spruce and I suppose I'll need to drive my SUV into the meadow to pull it out.(You can just see the cabin thru the trees.)Here are some lupines that are just starting on the meadow. I love these faithful little plants. They come back every year, and every year they multiply and get more beautiful.View of the lake and cabin beyond.And back across the land to the railroad tracks which border one side.Back in the cabin I was contemplating what to do with the ghostly imprint of Dusty the bear.In the end I decided to put a painting there. The painting is one of five which were painted by a patient of my late father's and show various lovely scenes around BC and also England. It's a nice memory to have here at the cabin.Finally, a lazy Sunday afternoon of reading and relaxing.And a new, fresh bouquet of seasonal greens. This time pussy willows, fresh elder, red willow branches, and some seed heads.So with a cheery fire warming the cabin......and the sun setting...we lit the candles...And had a good night.