Playing with Pictures

Lake Koocanusa, BC

With the completion of the hydro/electric dam at Libby Montana in the early 1970's, Lake Koocanusa was formed. There are 75 km of navigatible waters from the US/Canada border north to Wardner, BC. There are a variety of ecological and environmental areas along the shoreline. You can see Deer, Elk, Wild Turkeys, Bald and Golden Eagles, Osprey and the very occasional bear. Badgers, coyotes and other wildlife can be seen as well
The north end of the lake's shore is surrounded by forests with spectacular views of the Rocky Mountains. As you journey south, the shoreline becomes more arid and sandy beaches abound. With almost 80% of the shoreline being crown land, this is a boaters paradise.
A number of forestry campgrounds exist on both the east and west shorelines, as well as several private campgrounds, and Kikomun Creek Provincial Park. Stores with camping supplies, fuel and fast food facilities are available at several of the private campgrounds. Houseboat operations exist on the lake - these offer perfect conditions for visiting the numerous beaches. The beaches are wonderful for picnicking, swimming, and overnighting as they are well protected from windy conditions. This also makes the lake ideal for water-skiing and other water sports. Water temperatures in the summer can reach the high 70's.
Fed by the waters of the Kootenay River, Elk River and streams from the Flathead and Kootenay drainage systems, fishing abounds from early spring to late fall with Dolly Varden, Kokanee and Rainbow Trout.(copied from the travel bc website)  We camped at one of the campsites  We were treated to a lovely, misty sunset after dinner.  This was during our trip to the Pincher Creek Model T Ford meet.  We left our car and trailer with Harry and Rosalie, and continued on to Saskatchewan.

The RCMP musical ride: the charge; at Fort McLeod.  This was one of the stops on the Model T National tour this summer.

The photos of Vern's Stanley Steamer are from the Island Challenge tour earlier this month.
In attempting to make my photo album for the June gardening page for my old website, I found that my new Photoshop has changed the ability to make web photo galleries.  They all use Flash and javascript that I cannot edit in notepad as I have been doing with my old PS CS.  So I reloaded my old PS CS.  I had also lost the use of Optik Verve's Virtual Photographer.  This marvelous plugin does not work on the PS CS 5 with 64 bit Windows 7.  It DOES work on my old PS CS.  I am happy to have it back.  I hope they make a version of their Virtual Studio that works on the 64 bit.  Its a wonderful stand alone photo editor.
More computer stuff -- I have managed to get my headphones and mic sorted out, at last.  I am so dismal at hardware stuff.  Trevor is going to bring a longer cord and attach my new hd screen.  I will want to use it for movies and watching tv on line.  ... should I ever get the time.
We had dinner with Andy and Tara on Sunday..  was delicious --  while visiting them Andy showed us his Ipad and some of how it works.  Yesterday I checked out the cost of an Ipad2 at London Drugs.  It is probably going to be over $1000 by the time I get the most capacity, camera hook up and other things I might want to add to the basic.  Our microwave blew up with smoke coming out of  bottom the other day, so we were down to London Drugs to get a new one.  The ipad2 will be good to have when we travel.

The hanging tree is from our Pincher Creek Model T tour, this summer.  This is the sepia version from Virtual Photographer in my old PS CS.   All of today's photos have been tweaked with setting from this excellent plug in.
We have had about an inch of rain over the last week.  We had high winds and about 2100 people were out of power in town.  Ours went out over night the first time.  The garden is looking better for the rain.  We have been eating figs.  The grapes should soon be sweet and good.  The black berries are abundant this year.  I only picked a couple of cups full, as I still have blackberries left from previous years, and I am not making a rumpot this year.  The few tomatoes we had were delicious.  I really must get some growing next year.  The basil was not a success, but the parsley was good and is still going. 

Yesterday I melted the hummingbird feeder with feeder mix that was too hot.  So, need new ones.  In winter I like to have two... one to thaw out and the other out hanging up to feed them.
I have finally got the light garden trays and plants cleaned up.  This morning I water and fed  them all.  The African violets are all in bloom.  Two of the orchids are just finishing a long period of bloom with two more just in bud.

Now, if I can get some time out in the garden, I will feel like I am more caught up with everything.

September-- it has been a glorious month

Bridal Veil Falls.  This was our lunch stop on the Can Am Tour this year.  It is a 15 minute walk to the falls from the parking lot.  It is well worth the up hill climb for all of the 15 minutes.  It took me half an hour, as I had to stop for photos at every stump and clump of moss.  Meanwhile, at the bottom of the climb Pat was having his wedding ring cut off his finger.  He had a bee sting when we left the coffee stop at the Military Museum.  The bee was on the steering wheel, when he grab it to start on ward on the tour. On his wedding ring finger, of course.  Neither one of us thought to take off the ring.  By the time we got to the lunch stop his finger was swollen to twice its normal size.  This ring has a history of some redesigns over the years, not to mention the pins in the finger, itself.  A very stoic man, my Patrick. We will have the ring redesigned again, however he wants it.  I think he could have a diamond added for he is truly a precious gem.

In this photo I am shooting through the windshield of the the 1912 Ford Torpedo.  The title is The Navigator has lost it!    I love the total chaos of the shot.  Or is it double exposure?  :-}

The dahlia photos are from our coffee stop of the same day of the Can Am tour.  We stopped at a bee farm.  The talk about the bees was very informative. There is a wall where we could view the hive live.  The dahlia photos are from the parking area, where the dahlias were featured on a raised hill, with a garden bench overlooking the surrounding area. The flowers were spectacular.

Dahlias are a flower I think about for the cutting garden.  This cutting garden, in my dreams, is where the non-existent vegetable garden is now.  I am still deciding whether to make a cutting garden or a vegetable garden.   At the moment the veggies are winning.

We had 1/2 inch of rain last nite.  The grass area is looking green already.  It was cloudy, but warm today.  A very nice day.  The afternoon would have been perfect to be out gardening, but I spent the time cleaning up my light garden. This clean up was long over due.  I really need to re-pot and add soil to the plants soon.  The African violets look superb... they are all in bloom, now.

I brought in 2 plums today and they are the last of the plum crop.  The fig tree has a few more figs that need a few more days of ripening.  The grapes are full of fruit.  The apples are rather small, this year.  All of the garden needs weeding. .  . but it is not too bad.

I spent the morning making a beef stew, and the afternoon cleaning up the light garden.  Yesterday, I made the minestrone soup, which we had for lunch today, and it was given the OK for dinner guests.  It really is quite yummy,.  The freezer is full.  Next project is baked beans.
Minestrone Soup

1 1/2 lb. shin beef, with bone
1 cup dried navy beans, soaked over night
5 qt. water
2 tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 cups chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups diced carrots
1 1/2 cups diced celery
2 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 Tabsp. parsley flakes
1 medium potato

1/2 lb ground beef
1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
1 1/2 cups broken spaghetti
1 cup frozen cut green beans

I cannot believe this receipe has no tomatoes.
I added:  a can of tomatoe soup
and 4 chopped tomatoes as well as
Oregano and fresh basil all at the end of the cooking.

Grated Parmesan cheese
Basil

Put shin beef, beans, water, salt and pepper in large kettle.
Cover and simmer 3 hours.  Remove meat from bones, add to soup.
Add onion, garlic, carrots, celery, cabbage, potato and parsley.
Brown ground beef and add to soup.  Cover and simmer until
vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
Add zucchini, green beans and spaghetti.  Simmer until spaghetti
is cooked, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Top with cheese and basil.
Makes about 7 quarts.  May be canned or frozen. 

I managed to get the waterfall running again, today.  I like how the pond looks covered in duckweed.


Megashot.net is looking very good recently.  Come see us there.

September - a very busy month in the garden and otherwise

The Autumn crocus around the garden are looking very good.  The top photo is from a week ago.  The clump of blooms is 3 times the size now.  I like these easy care plants that give a good show when there is little else blooming in my garden.  The next photo is the jackimani clematis.  This one is beside the garage at the back.  The last photo is an attempt to show the magic of my little solar lights.  This one is on the deck.  I need to learn how to do good night shots, without noise.  I will probably have to use my dslr to do a decent job of it.
Monday, we got home from our 4 day trip to the CanAm, which is a Car event for the model Ts.  photos later, perhaps. I spent the day unpacking and recuperating from all the excitement. 

We have had very good weather the last 2 days.  The only thing I did out in the garden was to refill the humming bird feeder, pick 2 plums, and 2 figs.  This is the 6th fig.  The plums are finished.  The ones I cannot reach are dropping to the ground, some into the pond.  The grapes are very full of clusters and should be good this year.  There are lots of apples, but they are not very big.  They will probably be deer fodder in the winter time.

I spent today making soup.  I made about 3 quarts of the pork and pea soup.  I did not have ham, but had a big piece of roast pork.  I added cloves and cinnamon to the mix and it tastes really good.

I have another 3 quarts of mulligatawny soup.  It is quite good too.

Slow Cooker Mulligatawny Soup

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 medium celery rib, diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 tsp. mild or medium curry powder
1 large, green apple, diced (skin on)
2 tsp. finely grated lime zest
2 tbsp. fresh juice, freshly squeezed
1 tbsp. honey
1 bay leaf
4 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup of water
1 cup cooked white or brown rice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
1 (14 oz - 400 ml) can coconut milk
Salt to taste

combine the first 14 ingredients in your slow cooker.
Cover and cook on the low setting 4 hours.  Stir in the rice, cilantro or parsley
and coconut milk.  Cover and cook 10 minutes more.  Season the soup with salt and
serve.  Makes 8 servings.

Megashot is on the new servers and is very fast now!  I hope to get some time there to play this week.