Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Post #2073: Back from the cabin with a progress report
The cabin at Link Lake now has siding *and* soffits *and* insulation. And if I do say so myself, it looks fabulous (and in need of a paint job next summer). More importantly, it retains heat. No more open rafters with birds flying in – this is the real deal, now that it can be used all-season.
We went up on Friday morning, driving to Keremeos first to pick up a secondhand spinning wheel (more on that in a future post), and some beets and apples for canning ($16 for 20 pounds of beets, $8 for 10 pounds of apples). Since we were already stopped at Sanderson’s fruit market, we decided that this trip was the time to try out their adjunct Indian restaurant – Samosa Gardens – for a late lunch. Let me just say that *by far* this is the best restaurant in Keremeos – and for Indian food it is on par with anything I’ve eaten in Vancouver. For $13 each, Brian and I were so full that we couldn’t even finish the naan bread – and we love naan! Also, they are building a new facility out back of the store and restaurant in order to process their own cherry and apple juice which is now for sale at the fruit stand year round. I just can’t say enough good things about this fruit stand and the family who run it.
Anyhow – after a pretty great day driving around and eating Indian food on Friday, we spent the rest of the weekend at the cabin – luxuriating in the newly-sealed environment, cooking on the wood stove, and hiking up above our place. I did some mushroom hunting on Saturday and found what I think were Pine mushrooms and Sweet Tooths. Since I am no mushroom expert, I decided to forgo eating them until I learn more – but this was my first step in learning what grows around our place that is edible. I left a couple of interior BC plant books up there for future foraging endeavours.
I also took a lot of flora photographs, since the weather up there is definitely turning towards winter, and the bareness of things in the mountains makes for some stark beauty. The trail up the hillside above our cabin is most certainly not used by other people (we see no human traces besides ours) – giving both a delicious and desolate feeling at this time of year. We are never alone when we are out there though, for the tracks and evidence of animal life are everywhere. Black bears, moose, deer, and the occasional grizzly all roam close by.
We had a couple small financial hiccups related to the cabin last week, just a couple days before we went up – so as we headed out, my stress levels were high around the whole enterprise. But as usual, being at the cabin is the reminder of *why* we are engaged in this project – expensive and a little precarious for us – but something that we both deeply felt the need for in our lives. It’s a place to go and be quiet, to work on, to build for ourselves and our friends, and to give home to ourselves outside of the city. When I am there, I don’t want to leave, and I am forever plotting free weekends to make the drive up. Even now that it’s started to snow in the passes (Sunday morning, we were one of the first vehicles caught driving in the surprise snow storm!) – I’m determined to get good with winter driving so that I can take my snowshoes and head into the hills as often as my schedule allows. It’s not that I want to live out there, but the possibility of escape is a great comfort when work is getting me down.
Red Cedar 
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