Flooding Again

Seems like all I've been doing lately is talk about the weather and today is going to be no exception *grin*.

Yesterday morning when I rolled out of bed just before 8am we went into full on evacuation mode around here as the water started to creep up over the irrigation ditches around our home and into the fields. I was hoping we were going to make it through this year without any flooding but I must have thought it aloud and jinxed myself!

Hubby is busy working up north gathering a log tow up at the head of Knight's Inlet so it was just the kids and I and I wasn't feeling up to staying home alone as the water surrounded us and started to poor into the basement so we started packing. My mom lives next door on higher ground so we gathered clothing, food, toys and crafts to keep us busy, lifted up some of the books that were on the floor along with picture boxes and the computer tower and then I flicked off the main breaker to the house cutting off all electricity in preparation for a lot of water.

We made it down the road that connects between our homes just in time. Only a short while later it was already at least 3 feet deep and I know just how cold that water is when you have to wade through it :(

We were safe and dry but it's not exactly fun to stand on the other side of a brown and raging river and watch it creep closer and closer to your house.

My dad had moved the cow up to higher ground by our chickens so that it would be safe and the girls lost all of their yard to the brown deluge but they were safe and dry as they looked out their door :)

High tide came just as darkness was settling in and we checked the water levels once more before turning in while willing our thoughts to happier things like working on our advent :)

When I woke up this morning the water was gone again just as quickly it seemed as it had come and we found what remained of the four feet of water that had made its way inside our house. My oldest son and my dad pumped out what was left and dry firewood was brought in to try and dry out the woodstove so that I could get the house warm again and tonight we're all tucked back into our own beds again.

Despite all of the sloshing around in my gumboots I'm still doing in the basement it could have been worse and I am so thankful that we are all safe and forging ahead like it never happened. Now I just hope it doesn't do it again at least for a little while *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina

Fish Hatchery Field Trip

Each year I try to set up or make sure we join in some fun field trips being offered to homeschoolers here on the island and thought it would be fun to organize a trip out to a nearby fish hatchery this year.

There were about 30 of us total and the children got to watch the harvesting of salmon roe (eggs)...

and the milt (sperm) from the male salmon.

Salmon roe are incredibly hardy little rubbery feeling balls and can handle quite a bit of touching so the kids all got to hold some and name them :) The little black spots are their eyes and in the incubation room above were trays and trays of mixed salmon roe and milt waiting to hatch and turn into little Alevin in about 3 months.

When we were finished in the incubation room we had a chance to watch some of the workers taking samples from some of the salmon. They do this randomly and they were taking a piece of the liver from this fish to be sent to Nanaimo for analysis.

Did you know that hatchery fish don't have dorsal fins?

I actually didn't know this but when the young salmon they raise at the hatchery are released into the rivers and streams they have had their dorsal fins removed so that they can easily be identified when they are adults. The above salmon is a wild salmon and you can see that its dorsal fin is still intact :)

As we finished up our tour we all headed down to the river to watch some of the salmon that were spawning right outside the hatchery naturally and came upon a black bear that had come to check out the salmon as well.

He wasn't there purely as a spectator though...

and minutes later he had snatched up one of the salmon and proceeded to take it into the forest for a little afternoon snack *grin*. I guess it was good that we were on the other side of the river when it happened but unfortunately I couldn't get a clear shot of him without all of the fencing in the way. Still very cool for the kids to watch :)

Hope you all had a great week to!

Hugs,
Rosina

Exploring the Estuary

Yesterday we packed up the kids and headed off to one of my favorite local trails but when we got there we found that the bridge heading into the estuary had been fenced off.

It's hard to believe that this weathered foot bridge used to be a single lane bridge that I drove my car across four times a day, three times a week to reach an elderly woman I did home nursing for. Over the years the decking started to deteriorate so they built a foot bridge over the old bridge but it is getting soft in spots and sometime this summer the whole thing is going to be removed. Hopefully they will replace it but that is still not a sure thing.

Of course us local yokals don't get scared off by a few signs with bold red lettering and we skirted around the edge of the fence and headed on into the forest *grin*.

To be on the safe side we did go single file except for the little guy who went along with his daddy :)

As we wandered through the forest we were surrounded by amazing old growth trees. They are true giants!

This one was actually completely hollow inside and was big enough for all three of my kids to fit in and my dad for a photo. So much fun!

Where the old cottage used to stand there is now the above sign with all sorts of information on the different plants and animals that can be found along the trail. When the elderly lady that lived here passed away the property was donated to Ducks Unlimited and all of the old buildings were removed so that the grounds could return to their uninhabited state. I used to stand in this very spot when it was her kitchen and stare out the windows watching the river, swans and deer pass by. So many fond memories.... now only stories to tell to my children.

Just past the old homestead site is the estuary :)

The kids had fun exploring the grassy banks of the river. It wasn't long before the rain started though so we had to head back into the forest to take cover *grin*.

As we wound our way back around the loop to the main trail we took our time checking out all of the different mosses, poking and petting each one and talking about how they were all unique.

This tree always draws a lot of interest when we visit to as we try to guess what sort of animals may have been gnawing away at its pulpy insides :)

So many things to investigate along the way. The poor little guy got all tuckered out towards the end though and Hubby was more than happy to carry him like a good old sack of potatoes *grin*. What a turkey!

Hugs,
Rosina

Nature Walk ~ Puntledge Watershed

This last week seems to have just zipped by so quickly and I'm finally getting a chance to post some photos about our last nature outing with our neighborwoodie friends at the Puntledge Watershed :)

The park starts with this great bridge leading in along the river...

and down to the waters edge where you can find these magnificent old trees with their giant root systems above ground. I'm assuming that it must be due to the high volume of water that rushes through here during the wetter winter months and the current has stripped away the soil over the years exposing their roots.

In fact while we were there the sirens went off signaling that they were about to increase the flow of water coming into the river so we were careful to not let the children go into the water while we were there as it was moving quite fast.

Nothing like using a giant root system as a make shift jungle gym *grin*.

I love catching photos of my boys walking down the trails together :)

The eagles are very active this time of year and we were able to watch a couple sitting atop the trees again that afternoon.

One very exciting find for the kids was the perfectly intact backbones from last years salmon spawning that takes place here. My oldest did most of the fishing for them as he could reach further out into the stream.

They had quite a pile of them collected by the time we left :)

There are some great old fish ladders out in the back of the trail to. They are large logs buried into the stream at regular intervals with their centers notched out creating a series of sort of steps to make it easier for the salmon to swim upstream during spawning season.

We always have so much fun exploring and despite the lengthy travel time it takes to meet up with our friends the kids always claim that every week was the best one ever!

Hugs,
Rosina

Gold River

I've been totally absent again for a couple of days but I promise I'm not ignoring you all *grin*. We hitched up the trailer to head off camping along the Gold River on Friday morning and meet up with hubby's family. There's only one word to describe the weather.... SCORCHING!!

We knew the forecast was for the high 20's low 30's but when we arrived on Friday it had actually clouded over and even sprinkled a little. I had teased everyone that I had done the rain dance before leaving home because I really didn't want to get caught in the dead heat! No such luck. By Saturday the sun was back in full force and it was a sweltering 34 degrees in the shade and I heard someone say that the humidex made it more like the 40's. UGH, I so can't do heat :(

The kids seemed to fair okay in the heat and we tried to keep them extra hydrated with water. Their poor little bodies were so sweaty that the dust just stuck to them instantly as soon as they left the camper *grin*. K had fun playing with his cousins as my SIL's youngest is only 4 days older than him :) So they played in the tent, drew board games with crazy rules and wandered around the campsite.

My little princess stripped every huckleberry bush in site and even tried her hand at making huckleberry juice by smooshing them up and putting them in her drink bottle *grin*.

Where we camped it isn't far to the harbor where fishing boats and tugs can be found tied up...

and they have a fair sized dryland sort and booming ground as well :) I always love to see the machines working with the logs. It reminds me of the haydays here when logging was the driving force of our community. My dad was a heavy duty mechanic and fixed the old off road logging trucks and machinery and one of his friends would take me out in the logging trucks every summer. What a blast!! Some of the roads that we took were so narrow that it felt like you had no road to drive on, and then there was the thrill of spinning around in some of the log loaders that clung to the mountainsides like spiders *grin*. There definitely was never a dull moment out in the bush!

Air Nootka also operates out of harbor and the kids got to see one take off while we were there :) Now if only it hadn't been quite so hot it would have been a perfect trip LOL.

I was so happy to finally make it home to the cold and windy north. As I type this the sky has partially clouded over and the wind is screaming in through the windows so hard that it's making everything on the counters and fridge fly all over the place. I am not going to complain because that icy cool wind feels FABULOUS! *grin*.

Hope you all had a great weekend to :)

~ Rosina

Not Again!

We have been experiencing heavy rainfall again which isn't totally unusual for us in the winter. So last night I was teasing hubby, asking him if he had his tool kit ready so that he could make a mad dash to the basement and rip the well pump out if we started to flood again. We had a good laugh reminiscing about the last two floods we had in November and thought, nah, we NEVER flood in January and went to bed.

Haha, the joke was on us. Maybe I jinxed us or something but we awoke to the kids yelling that we were flooding! I couldn't believe it. We have never in the 31 years I've lived here flooded after November, but there it was creeping up from all sides around us. It's like a silent stalker that kills in the night!

I madly hurried to finish packaging up parcels from the night before that needed to be shipped to buyers and we sped off to the post office so that we would make it back in to our home before the water got to deep. Above is the main road in town right where our home is. The water was only about a foot deep and headed all the way to the bridge that crosses the river just ahead, but was still rising.

Thankfully after the tide started to fall the water also started receding ever so slightly though. The heavy rain continues to fall and of course under the cloak of darkness we're not sure what will happen tonight but I'm being optimistic. Our basement floor is once again covered with a shallow layer of water, I've moved the car to higher ground and when I awake in the morning I'm hoping to still see the grass *grin*.

~ Rosina

Flooding and the Aftermath

Well my worst fears actually manifested and we flooded!! Monday morning the phone rang at 6:45 am, my mom asking if we had seen all the water and off course we hadn't. It had come up in the middle of the night like a lion and it wasn't planning on slowing down anytime soon. If anything it was just getting started. The above photo was taken around 7:30am when I had a minute to look out my daughter's bedroom window. The river was now running right alongside our home.

As I glanced downward the murky river water was already climbing up the side of our home. The entire road was a hive of activity. You could hear engines roaring, shouting, and vehicles scrambling for a dry spot. Our front yard is really high since it was filled in about 10 years ago with gravel to stop some of the flooding so we ended up with neighbors cars, trucks, campers & quads parked up and down the little stretch of land that was guaranteed or at least should be guaranteed to stay dry. It seemed to have snuck up on all of us and we only had so much time to make preparations for the worst case scenario.

Our first concern was heading down into the basement to disconnect our water pump that pumps the water from our well. It has to be removed because if it is submerged in water it will most definitely not start again :( So hubby raced down the stairs to find that there was already over a foot of water inside the house. His boots barely cleared the top of the water as he frantically looked for tools and shut off valves. By the time he returned less than 30 minutes later the water had cleared his boots and was creeping up past his knees.

My oldest son and I headed outside to salvage bikes that we're already going under, garbage cans that were sure to be set afloat and anything else that we could still make it to, which really wasn't much since the water was already up over the back fields and creeping into our immediate backyard right behind the house. We had just stock piled a bunch of hay for our cows two days before and it was going under :( Dh's ride on lawnmower was past the point of no return and there were countless other pieces of machinery that were already long gone. We retreated indoors to wait. It's very eery to sit inside your home and listen to the water gurgle & rush in through the windows as it attempts to catch up with all of the water just waiting to get in on the outside.

We finally couldn't stand it and had to go outside to see what was going on around us. Our home had become a virtual island as water surrounded us on all sides. Above is the end of our driveway looking towards other homes that were either surrounded or unfortunately filling with the muddy waters.



The only mode of transportation left now was rowboat *grin*.

We eventually got about 6 feet of water in the basement and breathed a big sigh of relief that it wasn't going to come right into our main floor where it would be catastrophic. With the power shut off in most of our home we waited for it to go down.

Eventually by the following morning it was finally only about a foot deep inside and hubby began the process of cleaning up the debris, and trying to pump out the water left behind. Machinery was checked out and started up & damage was assessed.

It was great to see the water rush out through the hoses but unfortunately it is not staying out. With the ground so saturated it returns immediately so we will just have to wait. Eventually we'll get it all out but for now we will have to learn to live with it. The forecast has been for heavy rains but so far we've got snow! Which on one hand is a welcome reprieve from the rain but on the other hand if it warms up to quickly we're looking at a complete repeat of Monday but with an even more dire outcome. I'm not sure what will happen next but I'm hopeful :)

~ Rosina