At the Homestead

I lounged in my easy chair this morning, watching the birds in the big rock with a natural bird bath depresion in it. Saw about 10 different kinds, some new to me. We sat in the cool of the pump house with the mister spraying and Carol and I swim to cool off as it is 30 degrees. We walked up to the spot where they will build their house and it even has a view of the lake. The camping area is about 200' below. Cards were played each night and guess what? - the girls dominated again.

Yurts

I dropped Carol off for a haircut and went to the First Nations RV Campground to check things out. We had so much fun on our family reunion, we plan to have another one in 2011. The RV Park has all the amenities including 24' air conditioned Yurts for the non RV folks and it's right on the water, surrounded by orchards.

Off to Osoyoos

We left about 9:30 and headed through Keromeos where we stopped for fruit. There were about 20 very old rusted cars and tractors, very interesting, in the orchard.
We're staying 3 days with C and R on their 10 acres on Anarchist Mtn. Osoyoos was know as the Southern Crossroads as the valley runs north/south and a sand spit runs east/west across the lake which ends at the south end in Orville, U.S.A.,

Nelson Time

Four groups were off from 5:30 to 7a.m. this morning so later R and I went to town and met our sister in law and did the artist tour. Peter joined us for the pic in front of a mural of historic scenes. This is a very artsy town and well know for all the cultural, artistic and heritage architecture. Alex’s grandfather arrived here about 1905 and designed the Land Title Office, Court House and many other buildings in town. Baker Street is designed for coffee spots and the flowers are incredible. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, then retreated to the lakeshore at R and A’s for the rest of the day and hamburgers on the beach. We had a wonderful weekend and all had so much fun we’re planning a bigger reunion in 3 years, August long weekend and 2011. Mark it down.

Crawford Bay

Sunday we played tourist and carpooled 5 cars up to Balfour and took the ferry across Kootenay Lake to Crawford Bay. Our first stop was the North Woven Broom company in their old log barn. Here they make handcrafted brooms from the tassels of the Broomcorn plant. It’s an annual grass (Sorghum vulgare) which is grown in the Torreon region of Mexico. The natural stem in left intact and tightly woven onto a handle with a hand winder for the smaller brooms or an antique broommakers vise for the larger ones. They are very distinctive and one claim to fame is that they sold 75 brooms for a Harry Potter movie.

Barefoot Handweaving Studio and Gallery was next. We saw big floor looms in use and all sorts of different woven items. The building was of straw bale construction and was shown by a ‘porthole’ cutout and the 2 foot thick walls. We also saw metalwork, pottery and glass works.

Then it was back to the ferry with lots of visiting in the line up, and up to Ainsworth Hot Springs. We had a wonderful time in the water and one fun thing was a semi circle tunnel about 6 feet high and wide, you could walk through. Best thing was that 2 of the little kids got their faces in the water for the first time and had fun. They were so pleased with themselves, being just like their older siblings. Our day was complete with a marshmallow roast on the beach that night.

A Day at the Beach

Everyone was responsible for different meals so Paul did French toast, Alex did bacon, Graham and Allison were on the pancake detail and there was cereal and toast plus tons of Okanagan fruit as well. Each child has someone around their age so we all had a ball. Another husband, sister and brother and spouses arrived so there was more excitement.
It was busy with golf, Frisbee and croquet on the front lawn and then we spent the afternoon on the lake shore. Glacial water was a different experience for the coast and pool people but we swam, paddled, kayaked, tubed and visited. Thanks heavens for paper plates; turkey and ham with everyone’s contributions made sure we ate well. We roasted marshmallows at the bonfire in the evening.

On to Nelson

The whole family is going to Nelson to surprise my sister and husband for their 40^th wedding anniversary. Her daughter had arranged this and she and her sister and their 3 kids were there for a week vacation. They were expecting us, as a stop on our trip to see other friends but they were very surprised when Paul and Chris arrived with family at 3 p.m. and then Suz and James with 3 kids at 5 p.m. Friday night was enjoying all the kids and we loved being together.