Northern Trek

Capturing the Beauty of the North

2009-09-04T09:01:00.005-04:00

Fiery Dragon in the Clouds

Here in the north we have come to expect the unexpected. Hopefully when the unexpected does occur there is a camera near by. My daughter, Mariah, and I snapped a whole series of sunset photos the evening we took this one (not sure which one of us captured this photo). We thought it looked like a fiery dragon hovering over the lake.

No matter what the season, there is opportunity for photo taking. Sunsets, new fallen snow, delicate flowers bursting forth in brilliant colours, they are all calling for us to take notice and capture their beauty before the moment has past. There have been so many times the perfect photo opportunity has appeared before me and I didn't have my camera on hand.

I love my digital camera because I can snap as many photos as I like and can delete the ones that do not meet up to my standards. Slowly I have been learning the functions of all the buttons and dials of my camera. It can be quite intimidating, but I know that a good picture can be a great picture if the right settings were used in the first place.

Another way I have been trying to capture the beauty of the north is to paint. In this medium I am just a beginner and have a lot to learn. Art journaling is another way I have used to capture the north, not only by using pictures/sketches, but by including fanciful words to describe the feeling the moment evoked.

Moments only last for.....well, a moment. Go out and capture it so you can savour those moments again and again.

The Rare White Robin

2009-08-24T14:00:00.005-04:00

THE RARE WHITE ROBIN

This robin was a wonderful sight to see. I just happened to be carrying my camera that day and I snapped a few photos of her. She was very skittish so these are the 2 best shots I took of her.

She had a nest just outside cottage #4 at the camp I work at. I don't believe her eggs ever hatched because of the cool, wet days we had at the time. Her mate, as you can see by the bottom photo was a regular black and red male.

After snapping these photos I went home and googled "albino robins" and "white robins" and was very surprised to see that they weren't as rare as I had originally thought. I did learn though that out of all birds, robins are the most likely to have this albino trait. They are also the most likely bird to find mates as colouring isn't all that important in their mating rituals. The white gene is passed on to some of their young, but the majority are the common red and black colour.

If you get a chance you should google this rarity. It is quite interesting. I found that once I started I got interested in googling other albino animals just to read about it. Check it out. It is quite interesting!

Photo Sampling from Project 365

2009-08-21T13:02:00.010-04:00

Today I thought I would share some of the photos I have taken the last few months. I hope you enjoy them.

The crocus' were growing on my lawn. I love taking close up photos where I can.

There was just something about the pile of bricks out behind my house that attracted me. Perhaps it was the patterning.

The windblown tree photo was taken where I work, cleaning cottages. It was a cool rainy day that day.

The racoon was checking out our compost bin. We had another coon, later in the season, fall into the bin and wasn't able to get out until I rescued him. He really stunk to high heaven since all I had in there was an ichy sludge at the time.

The old, abandoned toy trucks look so natural laying amongst the leaves and dry grass.

I liked how the fungi on this log was layered. I don't know if you can tell, but the shades of blue in the rings are gorgeous.

I hope you enjoyed viewing my photos, I know I enjoyed taking them.

What We've Been Up To This Summer

2009-08-20T17:48:00.011-04:00

Time has a way of passing by without notice, at least that is how I feel this year. Lots has happened since I last posted, but I really don't know where the time has gone. Perhaps it is all the rain that we've had that has made my days all blend together. It is like summer never came at all this year and the new school year is just a week and a half away.

This spring I tried to take the challenge set before me of taking a photo at day ("Project 365"-on facebook), but I only lasted a month or so. I did however; take some pretty creative photos. My children became interested in the photos I was taking and started snapping some of their own. I have to admit that a few of their pics are really, really good.

The antler photo is an example of one of the photos my youngest daughter took. She is nine years old. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself. She took quite a few photos, but this one is my favorite. Digital cameras are great for taking lots of pictures and then weeding out the less than perfect photos.

I also built those window boxes this summer that I talked about earlier in my blog. I never built them before because of a lack of cofidence in myself, but this year I just went ahead and did it. I decided to add shutters to the windows of my shed as well. My husband came home and was surprised and impressed. He said he always knew I could do it, I just had to find that out for myself.

We have also been working on the front yard this summer. We moved our small fish pond a bit further out from the house and added a second one with a waterfall inbetween the two. We also have been pouring a patio infront of the house. It's been a slow process, but I feel it will look good once we are finished.

Spring Fever

2009-03-26T21:52:00.008-04:00

Spring is here and with it comes "Spring Fever". My pets are all going crazy wanting to get out side. Well, my pug Bug is always crazy, but he is even more so now. Mia, my other pug, is normally very quiet, but even she is starting to run around. Hopefully she won't give herself a heart attack as she has gotten quite heavy over the winter months. Klinger, my old cat, has come out from hiding under the blankets and has been meowing at the door. Mind you, as soon as he gets out he wants back in since it is still very cool out.

The spring gives me a fever too, but with me it is to clean and to organize and to build. I keep looking out at our shed made of barn board. The attractive gray building, with its two windows, seem to be calling out for a couple of window boxes. I am thinking about pulling our old smoker apart and building the window boxes out of it's wood. I may even have enough wood to build a window box for my Mom's shed as well.

My husband and I have been talking about building a worm condo for outside this summer. I wonder if they will do well out there or if it will be too hot? I guess the only way we will find out is to put some out there and try it. I will definitely keep some in the house as I don't want to lose them all if it is too hot and dry out there.

We have many projects in the house going on right now. Sometimes I wonder why we don't finish one job before beginning another. Our dining room and kitchen are pulled apart, ready to receive a face lift, our computer/scrapbook/crafting room is partially done and waiting for attention and our basement is in shambles as it is the catch-all for all the rooms that are pulled apart.

I am itching to do something, but I am unsure where to start. Oh well, I guess it is best to dive right in and just DO something. That will get the ball rolling. Look out Spring, here I come!!!

Birds

2009-03-23T09:34:00.006-04:00

This morning while surfing the net I came across a very informative website on birds. It contained information on how to attract birds to your yard, how to build feeders and nesting boxes and much more. There were many DIY projects, even one using an old swing set as bird cafe. I would recommend that anyone interested in birds, to go to the Bird Watcher's Digest website at http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/index.aspx

Spring Yard Walk

2009-03-22T12:03:00.003-04:00

For those of you in the north, this is an excellent time of year to go outside and take a close look at your yard. It doesn't matter if there is still snow, water puddles or mud puddles on the ground , that is actually what we are going to look at. Take it from a landscape designer, these are things you should observe in the spring time to make best use of your property.

Ask yourself:

Where does the snow melt away from first?
Where does the water tend to flow and puddle?
What areas turn to mud?
Where does the snow stay the longest?
Which plants did the wildlife and birds damage or destroy?

Jot all these observations down in a journal (you may have to start one if you don't have one). The answers to these questions will help you decide where your spring bulbs should be planted next fall, where you need to deal with drainage by grading (sloping) the land, which plants you need to protect next winter or totally get rid of. It's amazing what you can learn and observe about your property at this time of year. Go ahead and take a walk around and see what you can see. You never know, you may just make a interesting discovery, something you never even knew was there because foliage and snow hides it the rest of the year.

Ice Fishing

2009-03-20T23:15:00.010-04:00

Ice fishing season will soon be over for the year. The days are getting warmer and the ice is slowly disappearing. My family went out onto the ice Wednesday for our final ice fishing outing. It was great weather for us, but not so great for catching fish. There were 19 members of my family out on the ice and only 2 small fish caught. During the day it warmed up so much that the top layer of ice, on the river, turned to slush under our feet and it was threatening to let go of the shore where we originally crossed to get out to the ice shack. I am not sure how my uncle will be getting the shack back off, but he better hurry up.

Fishing isn't the only thing we did that day. There was a lot of talking and laughing and eating. The kids went sledding on one side of the river, (the side with snow) and climbed rocks on the other side of the river (the side without snow). My daughter and I took some photos of our day that we would like to share.

Spring Break is Over

2009-03-20T22:56:00.004-04:00

Spring break is coming to a close and let me tell you we are all very tired in this household, adults and children alike. Our days have been full of activity in the great out of doors. By evening we've been stumbling into the house just to fall into bed. Last evening I believe I was the first one to head to bed at 9:30 pm.

Our plans for this past week were originally to prime and paint the dining room and kitchen, but that never happened. Instead we attended weiner roasts, bonfires, went ice fishing, etc. We had a blast, however; my husband is feeling guilty for not getting household chores done on his days off (He took the whole week off to work on the house. I told him that it wasn't a good idea to take his time off during March break ). I guess there is always tomorrow to get some work done.

Mini Seasons

2009-03-17T21:54:00.005-04:00

Today, while at my parent's place, I couldn't help but think about the changing seasons. We were outside having a wiener roast and I noticed that the melting snow had created a lot of mud around their yard. My young nephew had mud right up to his knees. This in between time of year is very a dirty and messy time of year. Winter isn't quite over and spring hasn't quite begun. We should almost have names for these mini seasons. Anyway, it got me thinking of a poem I wrote many years ago, waaaaayyyy back when I was 15, a poem about the changing seasons. I thought I would share it with you.

Where Has It Gone?

Where has the winter gone?
The land of ice and snow,
The season full of Christmas Cheer,
Oh where did it go?

Gone, is the lovely spring,
The gentle breeze that blows my hair,
It kissed every child's cheek,
Does anybody care?

Where has the summer gone?
The dandelions swaying to and fro,
The golden sand on the nice warm beach,
Oh where did it go?

Gone is the cool crisp fall,
The trees are now all bare,
The colourful leaves have hidden themselves.
Does anybody care?

Tammy (Clelland) Meulemeester

Worms Are Our Friends

2009-03-16T17:17:00.005-04:00

I have worms. Yes, you read that right, but it's not what you think. So before you go jumping to any conclusions let me explain. I have red wrigglers, also known as compost worms. They are living in a modified Rubbermaid container in my basement. All winter long they have been feasting on our potato peels, coffee grounds, rusty lettuce leaves and many other compostable food scraps, while leaving behind a trail of poop, better known as worm castings. The worm castings are the main reason we decided to raise these squirmy, little fellows. The castings are extremely rich in nutrients and are great for houseplants, flowerbeds and vegetable gardens. All you have to do is mix the soil-like castings into your garden soil just as you would any other compost. Another way you can use them is to take some of the castings and put them into a homemade teabag (cheesecloth tied off at the top and hung on a string or rope), which you then dunk into your watering can or bucket. The 'worm casting tea' can then be used to water your plants.

Our worms are thriving. There are so many of them that they are to the point where they need a larger home, a second home or perhaps maybe even a worm condo. Yes, there is such a thing. The baby worms are very tiny. We tend to notice them when they are about a centimeter long and as thick as a strand of waxed dental floss. When we bought the worms in November we had a half a pound of them. It will be interesting to see how many we have now.

Some of you may cringe at the thought of having worms in the house, but we have had no problems. Well....that isn't completely true. Until we got the right balance of bedding (newspaper), food scraps and moisture we had a slight problem with fruit flies. The problem went away once we cut back on the amount of water we were spritzing in the bin and cut back on the amount of food we fed them each week. We also found that you couldn't add too much slurry at a time either (mushy food like apple sauce or over ripened bananas). There doesn't tend to be any smell from the bin unless it is a little too wet. This is easily remedied by adding a bit of dry bedding and mixing it with the wet bedding. Most of the time we just ignore the bin, checking it only every now and again. It is sort of like looking after a cactus, once a week or so it needs to be tended to.

Worm composting is a great way to dispose of your vegetable scraps in the wintertime. It sure beats trudging through the snow to the backyard compost pile. I am glad we tried this. Hopefully it continues to work out for us.

If anyone would like to know more about compost worms please feel free to drop me a note in the comment section below.

Our Afternoon Went Up In Smoke

2009-03-15T23:19:00.003-04:00

Excitement mixed with a little suspicion is the only way I can describe the kids this afternoon. My husband informed them that we would all be going out back to witness the burning of the brush pile (a huge pile of branches and twigs collected up last autumn that didn’t get burnt off because of an early snowfall). The only catch was they had to collect up some of the branches and cardboard lying around the yard before he would light it. Grumbling they went outside, but managed to collect the worst of it within 10 minutes.

Fifteen minutes later we had a roaring fire. Kids scattered, looking for more branches they could toss into the flames. Soon, however; they lost interest and drifted away to play in the snow. As I stood by the warm fire, I was drawn in by the mesmerizing flicker of the flames dancing about the burning brush. The crackling of the moisture evaporating from the logs soothed my chaotic spirit. My thoughts drifted away and all I was really conscience of was the fire and it’s ever changing patterns and colours.

Next thing I knew there were snowballs, no, slush balls being tossed about. Laughter erupted as a purple snowball came crashing down near me. Why it was purple is beyond me and to be honest I don't think I really want to know.

Later, we all tumbled into the house, cheeks rosy and in a lighter mood. All in all we had a pretty good afternoon.

SPRING IS IN THE AIR

2009-03-14T15:34:00.000-04:00

The fresh smell of spring is in the air and the snow is finally starting to melt away. Our back yard is alive with critters of every kind. In the past two days we have been visited by deer, raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks and many different bird species. No robins yet, so I guess I can't officially claim spring is here. My kids are hoping winter will hold on for one more week so they can get that final sledding in during their spring break.

The snow is still pretty deep in much of the area, however; grass is pushing it's way to the surface around the bases of the trees, out in the fields and on the side hills that face the highway. Deer by the hundreds dot the fields, taking advantage of the fresh new food source. Motorists are driving much slower these days wary of the possibility of deer sprinting out infront of them.

I love the spring season, especially after a long, hard winter like the one we had this past year. Yard clean up is going to be huge though. The first two major snowstorms of the year took down trees and branches, and the wind blew stuff from one yard to the next. We've actually been surprised by what is peeking out of the snow as it melts away. The kids are anxious to hang up signs at the post office offering to spring clean yards. My husband and I thought it would be wise for them to practise cleaning up our yard first, but for some reason they didn't particularly like that idea. You could almost see the dollars signs shining in their eyes. Maybe if they get to drive the mini tractor that might change their minds. They are always asking if they are old enough to drive it yet.