Autumn Memories

Saturday, September 12th, 2015

Oh, a very warm day today, - summer has returned for one final hurrah.  Yesterday she was just around the corner, and so the warmth was  pleasant.  Today I came home from town to find the door handle hot to my touch, and the temperature well above 40 degrees on the porch!!

 I had a wonderful drive to Penticton to finalize my purchase of a hearing aid for my no-hearing-here-ear, - a transmitter that sends hearing from the good ear to the aide in the lazy one  Marvelous!!!!

I no longer have to turn my head and say, sorry, I don't have any hearing in that ear, - now I have hearing in stereo.  Not perfect, but so much better....

We came home along the Green Mountain trail, - narrow and windy but full of memories of the last time Charles and I drove it on September 18th, 2012;  Although it was a little later in the year things have progressed so rapidly since our early spring, and apart from today, and summer's return, we are well into autumn.




The rabbit brush lines the road - glorious golden splendor, - and the aspen and alder leaves quiver and shine like coins in the slight breeze.  I didn't take any pictures, but here are my memory pictures of that lovely last drive we made.....

 The peaceful meandering of this back road and the creek that runs beside it are a far cry from the busy highway it parallels.

deep woods line the pioneer trail that once stretched from Washington 

through to Summerland

and beyond.

The dryness of the current year has robbed this little pond and island

of a lot of its magic

and the greenery that surrounded it and was reflected in the still water

did not have the same appeal

back in the Similkameen

and so appreciative of the chance to take this sweet way home, 

and to stir some happy memories.

Invermere

ABC Wednesday
September 10th, 2015

The letter is I - for Invermere.

Continuing with the cities and towns of British Columbia, let me introduce you to Invermere - an appealing mountain village located part way down the Columbia Valley and close to the Alberta border. And on the edge of beautiful Lake Windermere.  It grew originally as a logging and fur trading economy, but for the last hundred years it has leaned more and more to tourism....

The Columbia Vallely was as traditional hunting and fishing ground used by First Nations people, the Akisqnuk, whose land covers over 8,000- acres of some of the most pictureque land between Fairmont and Windermere.

Rich in resources the First Nation owns and operates two capable water systems and is home to a leased residential subdivision, the Indian Beach Estates, a large Campground, a Forest Compay, a sustainable housing construction program and a Montessori curriculum based Learning Program.

The village of Invermere has grown along with it.  In 1807 David Thompson was the first European to explore this territory when he established a trading post known as Kutenae House.  The first real settlement was known as Copper City, established in 1900, then changed to Canterbury, and once again in 1909 to Invermere (gaelic for mouth of the lake)

Today Invermere is the commercial hub of the Columbia Valley, a thriving community of boutique retail stores, two stunning beaches and a vibrant arts community.

It is situated within the Columbia River Wetlands, North America's largest intact wetland,  and near the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy.

With a temperate semi-arid climate (much like the Similkameen) it has warm summers and cool winters, - well, sometimes cold winters.  Spring arrives earlier here than on the prairies to the east of the Rocky Mountains, which protect Invermere to the west, where Mt. Nelson towers over the community.  It has attracted many Calgarians from adjacent Alberta, who maintain second homes in this lovely spot.

Many things to do in this beautiful village!

The Lake Windermere Whiteway is located along the Columbia Valley and recently won the world record for the longest skating trail |(30 km) .  It has three access points, two of them in Invermere, and is accompanied on the side by a groomed skiing trail.

Hiking in the westlands

Cottaging on the beach

A winter scene which speaks of good skiing in the mountains..

golfing and boating and water skiing

and just a lovely pastoral place to relax

I visited Invermere in April, while staying at Fairmont just down the way.  It was a great experience

and we also travelled to nearby Panorama, a world class skiing resort

high up in the mountains above Invermere which left me quite wide-eyed.....

A few old pictures of Invermere as it was.....

How to get there!

Lots more 'I's here at ABC Wednesday, 

with thanks to Denise and Roger and their intrepid helpers.

Clemence Dane

Sunday, September 6th, 2015

What a gorgeou cool, crisp, sunny day.

Up early, showered and dressed, and after breakfast an hour or so to spare before morning coffee with family on their way to Victoria.

My determination to declutter, always with me, tempted me to put the time to good use and tackle the books on the shelves that line each side of the bed.  Some of them have been there forever, and one in particular drew me in, clasped me close, and whispered in my ear - 'open me - see what delightful memories I hold for you!'

Oh yes.  In the early years of our marriage Charles and I belonged to the Book of the Month Club, and sometime in the 50s The Flower Girls by Clemence Dane was the feature of the month.  I found it absorbing and delightful, and it has remained beside our bed ever since.  Re-read many times, but I must confess not recently.  It stopped me in my tracks as I sat and opened it, read the contents  and the first few pages; wondered about Clemence Dane (Winifred Ashton) and if her books were still available on library shelves,  and if so why I wasn't reading more of her prolific works.

No, - none in the library system.  Try Amazon, and there I found only one used book available, 'Broome Stages'  (which I ordered).  But there is always Google who told me all I needed to know and also made me realize how ephemeral fame is - how transitory our time in the public's favour.

Winifred Ashton chose her nom-de-plume from the Church of St. Clements in London.  She was born Winifred Ashton in Blackheath, Kent, 1888 and died in London in 1965 at the age of 77.  At the age of 16 she had finished her studies and was working in Switzerland as a French tutor, but she stayed only one year and returned to London to enroll in the Slade, studying in London and Germany.

During World War 1 she satisfied a longing to write. and her first Novel 'Regiment of Women' appeared in 1917.  She wrote three novels, but then began to write plays - her first A Bill of Divorcement.  After a film version starring Kathryn Hepburn and Douglas Fairbanks met with great success Clemence Dane turned to writing screenplays, continuing as well to write more novels.

During World War 11 Dane edited The Shelter Book: A Gathering of Tales, Poems, Essays, Notes and Notions...for use in Shelters, Tubes, Basements and Cellars in War-Time.

Here is a video of The Welcoming Land, written by her in the early years of the War, and read by Sir Noel Coward, who, by the way, is said to have modeled his character of Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit after Clemence Dane..

Well, I am going to tuck The Flower Girls away for yet another reading,  and perhaps tomorrow I will find at least one or two books that I am prepared to part with, so I won't be completely discouraged from my de-cluttering project.  

Hopefully Clemence Dane will be rediscovered and become popular among readers again.

This and That, - Here and There.

September 4th, 2015

A week ago today I was busy stuffing all I could into ONE bag, - carry on luggage to make our quick flying trip to the City (Edmonton) as easy as possible in busy airports.  A sweet and generous DIL volunteered to shepherd me to my sister's Memorial.  A celebration of her life and a wonderful chance to see her children, grandchildren and great grands gathered together in one spot - an opportunity not to be sneezed at!!!

We flew out of Kelowna Saturday, at noon.  All week the valley had been engulfed in smoke from wildfires blazing on both sides of the border, but as we left a welcome rain promised to make some difference in the atmosphere.  We flew above the clouds, but still the mountains were hidden from our view, and we landed in smoke from prairie fires.

Settled in to an overnight motel and had dinner at The Olive Garden, - delicious, and after, a good evening visit with Jeff and Anna (grandson and wife...)  Woke to clear skies and breakfasted at a restaurant that specializes in marvelous hearty morning meals and then off to indulge in memories of my sister's long and creative life, and to remember her, not only with my own memories, but also with those of her dear children and their offspring.

It was a quick trip - we said our farewells and caught the 5.15 flight back to Kelowna.  Home by 7 p.m. and Callie met me at the door with her 'where have you been' meow.

Well, it took a while to recover from all that activity, - talking and walking - and my knees complained loudly, but September arriving at the same time was a splendid pick-me-up!  When the children were home and September saw them back at school nobody was more eager or energetic than I to take advantage of all the fall activity.  I longed to go back to school with them, and for a while I did.  A student once more taking every last English Lit and Philosophy class I could!

September still affects me the same way.  I am anxious to make lists, to read new books.  But mostly right now I have an obsessive yen to 'de-clutter'!  I have a granddaughter who is expecting her third child in six weeks or so, and she is busy 'nesting', but I think as one grows older there is a longing for simplicity and the realization that one must divest themselves of a lot of the things that have accumulated over the years.

Fall and lovely cool weather have arrived early, as did spring.  The months seem to have adjusted themselves, and probably we will have an early winter.  Hopefully with lots of snow in the mountains to relieve the drought conditions we have suffered from this year.

Blue skies and clear air tempted me out to the garden.

The Autumn crocus surprised me in the side bed, and though the roses are finished (will they bloom again in October as they have before?) and the phlox is looking quite disheveled, the barn flowers and the yellow daisies and rudbeckia cast a wonderful golden glow in the crisp air.  

A few leaves are turning on the Elder tree, and there are other indications that autumn is about to

make changes in the garden palette.

 The sedum is starting to turn pink, and the Chinese Lantern are a lovely gift at each stop that the Chinese Railway made in the back garden!

In the orchards they are picking apples three weeks early

Charles loved the fall, as I do, and I remember the back road trips we used to make, and treaure the pictures we took of the seasons turning gently - the grasses drying sweetly into that lovely naples yellow, so that the hills glowed and eventually the trees donned their most spectacular colours to say farewell.

H for Harrison Hot Springs

ABC Wednesday
September 2, 2015

The Letter is H for Harrison Hot Springs

It is the 20th century and we are on our way, down the Hope Princeton Highway, to Vancouver.  Or perhaps we are on our way home..........  No matter, - we will always make the turn off the Highway that leads to Agassiz, through Agassiz, and on to HARRISON HOT SPRINGS, the home of some of our dearest friends....

The village of Harrison Hot Springs is a small community (perhaps 1500 souls) at the southern end of Harrison Lake in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia.  The small road winding along the bottom of the cliff in the right of the picture leads to where they lived, - up a steep bank and on to a rocky ledge where Fred has built their home, and from where they can gaze across the lake at the splendid Hot Springs Resort, - or up the lake, past the many small islands that dot the lower end; the beautiful coves, beaches, rock cliffs and waterfalls surrounded  by coniferous forests and snow-capped mountains - truly spectacular.

The Coast Salish First Nations people lived along the Harrison River and Harrison Bay.  They called the Harrison hot springs Warum Chuck and believed them to have supernatural medicinal qualities.  For hundreds of years it was their secret alone, - even when Simon Fraser canoed past the Harrison area in 1808 he made no mention of the river or the lake, and later when Hudson Bay explorers discovered the lake in 1846, the hot springs remained unknown.

That is no longer the case!!  By 1860, during the Gold Rush, Port Douglas at the north end of the lake 'bustled with the comings and goings of miners en route to the Cariboo gold fields and Harrison Lake was their main thoroughfare.  So when a storm capsized a party of prospectors one winter they were astounded to find themselves in warm, not freezing waters'.

The springs soon became a popular tourist attraction and the area's first hotel was built, the St. Alice.

When the heady days of the Gold Rush ended Harrison's economy slumped and they became dependent on the hot springs, as they are today

When in 1920 the St. Alice was destroyed by fire a new hotel was built, and it has evolved into a world class resort.

Tourism has been the mainstay of Harrison ever since the springs were discovered. but today there are many more things to enjoy.  It is a relaxed community, - many of the new developments are owned as second properties by city folk and pre-retirees looking forward to a slower pace of life, and they dress accordingly.  The economy relies almost entirely on the Resort, except for maintenance in the village and small shops that cater to visitors.

Our dear friend, Fred, was born into one of the communities pioneer families;

very much at home on the lake and the surrounding agricultural and timber covered land.

His work in dredging the south end of the lake to rid it of weeds and extend the beach

extended into the Okanagan where he worked the same magic in attracting sun lovers.

And fishermen......

and boaters.....

and hikers.....

How to get there????

For more interesting Hs visit here at ABC Wednesday

with thanks to Denise, Roger and all hardy helpers....

G is for Greenwood

ABC Wednesday
August 26th, 2015

The letter is G, for GREENWOOD

Let me introduce you to GREENWOOD, a tiny little city in the Kootenays which lays claim to being the smallest city in Canada, incorporated as a city when it was a booming mining centre more than a century ago.  It now has seven hundred and twenty-five citizens!

Another lovely mountain town with an interesting history, boasting some of the best preserved heritage buildings in British Columbia.

A thriving mining town in the early twentieth century suddenly, in 1918, the city lost momentum when the B.C. Copper Company closed as a result of market values.

There was great abandonment, - people left in droves  and businesses closed until in 1940 only 200 people remained.

However during World War 2 a new group of citizens changed Greenwood's fate with the forced internment of Japanese Canadians from the coast of British Columbia.  The many empty hotels and businesses became dwelling places for the 1200 who came to Greenwood.

'with the same undaunted spirit of the miners before them Greenwood's new citizens transformed the town into a once-again bustling community, where culture, education and sports became an important part of everyday life'

When the war ended in 1945 Greenwood stood fast in supporting its Japanese Canadian citizens and were appreciative of the growth and culture they had engendered.

O'Hairi Park, located in the centre of town, is dedicated to the Japanese Canadians of Greenwood.

An old tunnel, narrow and suited to horse and buggy days and once covered over to accommodate railway tracks, is now an attraction to visitors passing through Greenwood, as is the old copper smelter which still stands.  The Tunnel has been decorated with flags, painted by the Mayor of the City to discourage graffiti....

Greenwood now, like many other B.C. communities, is becoming a destination for historic tourism, and flourishing. There are no shortages of things to do in the surrounding country side - fishing, boating, hiking and camping are favourites at Jewel Lake, just north of Greenwood, and east of the City there is a scenic educational Phoenix Interpretive Forest drive and a memorial to Phoenix in the city itself..  (Phoenix - an old and famous mining town in the Kootenays, now a ghost town)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              In 2012 this little City was awarded the prize of best tap water in the world and is now selling bottles of Greenwood Gold in its local stores for $3.00 a bottle!  The locals buy them and give them away as gifts.  The award ceremony attracted 250 people  or about a third of the City!

For more interesting Gs do gallop over to the ABC site here,

with thanks to Denise, Roger and their Great helpers.