Snow…and more snow..
Yesterday, March 3, 2023, Day 5, without power. More snow than we’ve seen for decades battered our forests and woodlands, knocking down branches…. toppling trees….. smashing fences…..crippling the electric grid. Our road into town was impassable for periods of time, from snow and mud, trees blown over, and/or cars twisted sideways, preventing anyone passing either direction. Although beautiful to look at, I’m not much of a snow fan.
Winter, 2023, the barn at Emandal.
The first day, we kept thinking PG&E would come through… very seldom do we go a full day without power. Day two, we were still a bit discombobulated, thinking that any minute, surely, the power would come back on. By Day three, I moved a computer to the Dining Room so that I could at least check and respond to a few emails. Our generator can run the whole building…. so we opted for an hour each morning and evening for keeping the freezers frozen, the refrigerators cold (not hard in this weather), and doing what we could with the internet. Day four, the sun came out! Our battery packs charged easily and quickly with the solar panels that came with them…. phones, flashlights… ready for another dark and stormy night. On Day 5, right around noon, the lights came back on. One of the trouble-shooters for our district…. the one who flies the helicopter over, patrolling the lines from the top of San Hedrin down to Tomki Creek…. finished flipping the switch to re-energize the line beyond us, from camp, across the river, then up to the top of the mountain…. commented that indeed, we were the last on his list of problems to get power. He was hoping to rest more easily that night…… but had just been informed of lots more snow expected this next week.
Day 7…. the power is still on! We’ve scraped the snow off the satellite dish… and access to the worldwide web is within our reach! It’s amazing how reliant we are on others…. no matter how independent, or self-sustaining we think we are or would like to be. Technology…. the blessing and the bane of our lives.
A couple of alterations in the farmscape, because of the snow, and perhaps the amount of rain over the course of months. Two trees adjacent to the stage in camp fell through the very middle of it. In the photo below, you can see a pile of brush to your right, piles of firewood behind it, and the stage itself, broken and bent. A tree also “leaned over” onto Cabin 12. When the excavator came in to remove the trees from the stage, it also pushed the leaning tree away from the cabin and down to the ground…. nary a scratch left on the building.
The stage in camp, split by an oak tree that grew next to it.
While the machine was in camp, Bodie, the operator, pulled the Bear Box from Lower Camp to a shadier place, below Blue Heron, above Mossy Rock. Sink, tables and counters will follow once the weather changes.
Lower Camp Bear Box in it’s new location…with more shade… below Blue Heron, above Mossy Rock.
And….. the Curly Willow Tree, near the Pizza Oven, apparently got so top heavy with snow, that it leaned over and uprooted. Water lines are in tact. This happened AFTER the excavator was here, so we’re working on it slowly… trimming huge portions of branches away…. redesigning what shade it can provide, in a different part of the lawn and garden area. A few posts are planned to help support it…. but we’re thinking that it should keep growing, albeit in a somewhat different direction.
Curly Willow that used to “stand” in front of the Dining Room.
So lucky we are to have a dedicated rose pruner we can count on year to year, no matter if she has to fly across the country to make it happen! Which is exactly what she did mid February. Marion, seen below with Elia, a good friend that brought her up from her parents home in the bay area (she doesn’t only come to prune our roses….. her parents are definitely part and parcel of her trips out west…) Marion, Elia and I pruned ALL our roses this year (maybe one or two were missed), after which Darrell and I composted each and every one…..and then the snows came! Who knows what spring will bring?!
But as you can also see, that weekend, that felt much like spring beginning, violets were in abundance. Marion picked cup upon cup of blossoms, to create a violet syrup. More beautiful in appearance than flavorsome to the palate, in my opinion… nevertheless, a hint of growth to come.
Early on in the deluge of Winter 2023, water pooled in places we hadn’t expected…. necessitating the removal of protective structures to higher ground. Naturally, it had to be done when the rain was at it’s heaviest. (note sarcasm) Kashaya drove the skid steer, Malanyon and I walked holding onto the end posts of the far side…. across the field to a knoll much more suited for two yaks….. and OUT of the rushing water.
Moving protective structure to higher ground….. in the rain.
Our young chickens are laying eggs now! Kashaya found the first inside their Ford Van Home just before the snows hit last week. We had hoped their new abode would be ready for them….. but they’re managing. Casey couldn’t make it over last week…. he couldn’t even make it up his driveway to the road! But soon, Mobile Chicken House #1 will be out in the field, sheltering what was supposed to be a flock of 50 hens…. but are 42, plus or minus.
Mobile Chicken House #1… needing siding and roofing.. but nearly ready!
The other than pullets, that is, the 8 roosters that came with the chicks, have been given their own Vanagan Home, behind the big metal building in the field, near the dumpster. We didn’t want to butcher them…. we certainly didn’t want them messing with our hens… and we didn’t want to just throw them to the coyotes or bobcats. Every night, they go back to their van, Kashaya closes them up…. and they’re ready the next morning to peruse the area for bugs and worms. We have high hopes that they will, like Guinea Fowl are supposed to do, keep snakes away. We’ll keep you apprised at how they’re doing this summer.
Summer is fast approaching. We’re welcoming a multitude of guests this summer…. family groupings, groups of families, friends and relations, like-minded folks. For everyone staying in camp, breakfast is a given. For those in houses, breakfast packages can be purchased. If you’d like pizza…. that too, is an option this summer. PIZZA FANTASTICO.
With three camp kitchens, we can take three separate groups of folks, each group from 8-12 or so people. For the entire camp, we try to stay between 36-40. If you’re a small family, we’d suggest a house.
We still have a number of openings. Here’s the link for registration: emandal.com/application-form
June 20-25: could take up to 36 people + 3 houses
July 4-9: up to 36: no houses
July 25-28: up to 12 + 3 houses
August 17-21: up to 36 + Bunkhouse
August 28-Sept. 4: up to 18 + 3 houses
Taken during one of our previous ArtStays. Join us!
Madrone Heart….. on a trail to the lake.
In hopes you can again join us at Emandal. We look forward to seeing you!