Adapting

Well, the temperature was dropping fast over the last couple of days and every time I thought it can't possibly get any colder, it did exactly that....

This morning we woke up to a record so far of -32ºC/-24ºF, and that was at 9 am, I don't want to know how cold it was during the night....

Surprisingly the chickens are doing ok, they do not like the snow, but I put a lot of straw down for them to walk on and also insulated their coop and parts of the run with straw. They seem to be content and my one adult hen is still laying.

Lexie, the outdoor master, is doing great! I had her inside though for parts of the day, but then she got really bored and wanted to go out.

Fin and Mr. B have some frost mascara and enjoy the extra hay and grain I am feeding to keep them warm.

And as the saying goes, there is no bad weather just bad clothing, right?
That's how Ex-Californians dress up to withstand the Canadian winter...;-)

Some typical tools at the farm, like a wheelbarrow for example, are utterly useless in deep snow, so we just switched to the "winter" wheel barrow...

Feeding evolved to sledding down to the pasture while sitting on the hay, it's way faster and more fun than pushing the wheel barrow, I will miss that come spring.

Although even weather.com calls these temperatures "bitterly cold", it is sunny and just gorgeous

And since it's too cold for lots of outdoor chores there is more time to bake cookies,

or watch the colorful sunsets!!

The Overnight Transition

We had a brilliant, colorful fall. A bit foggy now and then but otherwise just splendid.
I couldn't get enough of the color display around me.

 View from the Lakit Lookout road

Aspen

Fisher Peak

Lonesome leaf

Kimberley Ski Hill

Kootenay Valley View

Then, without so much as a warning, basically over night, fall turned to winter - colorful to monochromatic...

Our backyard

After the first snow melted, temperatures turned rather frosty again

The Rocky Mountains are hiding behind this fog bank

Another view of the Kootenay Valley, this time from the east side

 Canada Geese

Lots of new experiences this year....
I am looking forward to lots of great winter photo opportunities!

November Conservation Tip

PALM OIL  

A PRESSING MATTER

Palm oil is derived by pulping the fruit of oil palms and meanwhile found in almost half of the packaged products found in grocery stores. Palm oil is mainly produced in Southeast Asia with Indonesia and Malaysia as the main contributors.

Most of us are unaware of buying and eating products containing palm oil, like ice-cream, cookies, crackers, chocolate, cereal, energy bars, detergent, shaving cream and...the list is endless.

And why should we be aware of??

Well, this palm oil is responsible for 

1. The imminent danger of extinction of the Orangutan, the Sumatra Tiger, the Pygmy Elephant and the Tree Kangaroo, to name a few

The Orangutan, a primate very close to humans, lost already 80% of it's habitat, regarding to Greenpeace about 180 square miles in two years. 95% of a Orangutan population in a given part of the rain forest will likely face death or displacement if that part of the rain forest will be converted to a plantation. Indonesia plans to double their palm oil production...the business is good....

The already critically endangered Sumatra Tiger, there are only an estimated 300-500 left, will also loose it's habitat. Further deforestation will increase the human-tiger conflict and will make tigers more susceptible to poaching

One of the least understood elephants and the smallest of Asia's elephants, the Pygmy Elephant and the Tree Kangaroo are also on the endangered list.

2. Massive violation of human rights

The fast proceeding deforestation is driving indigenous people and forest dependent communities off their land without consideration for their needs.

Due to the isolated geographic location the plantations rely on an outside work force which is supplied by so called labor brokers. These lure in workers with the promise of high wages and once the workers are on location they will be deprived of most of their rights. Sound like modern slavery to me.

In 2012 the US Department of labor listed palm oil as one of the industries most notorious for forced labor and child labor. In Malaysia alone, it is estimated that between 72,000 and 200,00 stateless children work on palm oil plantations!!!

3. Climate change by destroying the planets "lungs"

As we all know a tree "breathes" in carbon dioxide and "exhales" oxygen. About 30 % of all the carbon we produce by burning fossil fuels is "cleaned" this way by the world's intact forests.

Rain forests are especially important in this process as they are able to convert as much carbon each year as all the temperate and boreal forests combined.
Right now we are losing about one acre of rain forest per second.....
Not only are we losing these "oxygen-producers", due to the burning down of the trees this deforestation produces as many emissions as those from transportation all over the world...meaning it pollutes as much as all the cars, trucks, airplanes, ships and trains together worldwide. Indonesia is the third biggest contributor to greenhouse gases "just" from burning down it's rain forest.
To make matters worse, the rain forest grows on organically rich peat land. This peat land needs to be drained in order for the palm trees to grow, which causes the loss of this rich organic matter AND significant carbon emissions.

Were you aware of this last time you ate a Hershey bar 

or munched on a Ritz Cracker?

This is tough stuff, what can we do?

- supporting organizations like RAN (Rainforest Action Network) and Greenpeace
- get informed about the topic (see links below for further info)
- raise awareness, inform you family, relatives, friends and coworkers about it
- vote with our wallet. Now that you know, just look at the ingredients list of whatever you are    intending to buy...if it lists palm oil, put it back on the shelf. If we stand together we can make a difference.

Think about it!!!




Resources for this blog and more information can be found here:

http://energy-reality.org/palm-oil/

http://www.ran.org/conflict-palm-oil

http://ran.org/sites/default/files/conflict_palm_oil_lowres.pdf

http://www.alternet.org/environment/how-palm-oil-industry-driving-orangutans-brink?page=0%2C0

http://greenpeaceblogs.org/2013/10/22/the-environmentalist-14-reasons-we-need-to-save-indonesia-from-deforestation/?utm_source=gpusafb&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=forests

Lexie Update

Many of you have asked about Lexie, how is she doing, how much did she grow...?
Here are some answers.....


How much did she grow? This is an image taken shortly after we got her,

and this one is from today. And I think she still has some growing to do....

She definitively is just that, a good dog!

She loves to go on walks and

enjoys long hikes.

She is a patient photographers companion, a hard to find trait...;-)

When we go for a trail ride, no pace is to fast...

I love to watch her exploring new things, here she looked at her first snow and you could really "see" her thinking "what happened here???"

Her usual watering hole, frozen...she just couldn't believe it, scratched the ice, bit the ice and finally looked quizzically at me...hard not to laugh.

What is under this cold, white stuff??

In short, she is a wonderful dog, all day outside, guarding the chickens and the horses. Never leaves the property, fearless and brave; and absolutely cold hardy, lying  on the frozen ground right know, happily chewing on some trophy find.
She is very independent and since I have started her basic training we had quite a few battles of wits. But once she understands she is a quick learner.
I am so happy I found her!

Exploring the Kootenays

Part 3

Grey Creek Pass and the Kootenay Lake Ferry

Grey Creek Pass is one of the tours that was on my bucket list for quite some time. The pass is part of the Trans Canada Trail, the world's largest network of trails and once finished will stretch 23000 km through Canada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic Ocean. One needs a 4 wheel drive, high clearance vehicle to travel this pass which is only open from May to October. Now with the truck at hand we thought we give it a try.....
If you click on the image below to enlarge it, you can see our start point, Kimberley's St. Mary Lake and the Trans Canada Trail going west towards the Kootenay Lake.

Fall was in the air and warnings about a few inches of snow on top of the pass had reached us, but it was a beautiful day and a few inches of snow would not deter us.

St. Mary Lake marks the Kimberley access road to the pass and the road was gravel but very well maintained at that point.

The higher we climbed the more spectacular got the views.

After a few kilometers it got a bit more serious,

and the road started to show some wear and tear.

And soon we saw the first signs of snow,

and more snow,

and even more snow. I guess it was about 6 inches, and we were sure glad to have our truck!

Back down from the wintry outing we headed towards the Kootenay Lake Ferry. During the summer tourists wait in loooong lines to get on the longest free ferry ride in the world, but at this time of the year it was no problem. We just had arrived when we saw the ferry already approaching.

The ferry runs between Kootenay Bay, were these photos are taken to Balfour, on the west side of Kootenay Lake, about 30 minutes north of Nelson. The ride takes give or take 35 minutes.

We traveled on the Osprey 2000, a seemingly normal ferry, but when one looks closer, it shows a lot of love for details. Just look at the railing in the above image and the seats in the inside of the ferry. Simply amazing!

What a great way to travel with views in all directions...

Balfour greeted us with eclectic, Nelson style street vendors and

severe warning signs...;-)

Once on the west side we headed to Nelson for a late lunch and then took the ferry back to Kootenay Bay. Instead of challenging the pass again we decided to enjoy the sunset while driving along the Kootenay Lake, taking the longer but safer route home.

October Conservation Tip

TO IDLE OR NOT TO IDLE

Should be a no brainer one would think, but with the temperatures getting colder, at least here, I see more and more cars idling...in front of stores while the owner is shopping....at schools or at bus stops when parents wait for their children...in drive-through lanes....
After heated debates with friends and family about the topic, I thought a bit of research was in order...

I found four topics to be the most important in connection with idling:
Health, Environment, Money and Car Maintenance.

Let's see what I found in regards to idling and health:

The NRDC (Natural Resource Defense Commission) writes: "Exhaust from idling vehicles can accumulate and pose a health risk to employees, drivers, and the community at large. Exposure to exhaust can cause lung damage and respiratory problems. Exhaust also exacerbates asthma and existing allergies, and long-term exposure is thought to increase the risk of lung cancer"

The EDN (Earth Day Network )states in it's school kit: " Idling harms our health. Vehicle exhaust is harmful to everyone's health, but especially affects children who breathe more and at a faster rate than adults." and
"Asthma is the most common chronic illness in children and the cause of most school absences. Children's asthma symptoms increase from exposure to car exhaust. Children breathe, on average, 50% more air per pound of body weight than adults"

The California Energy Commission: "Idling is linked to increases in asthma, allergies, heart and lung disease and cancer."

Puh, that stinks....how about the environment?

Natural Resources Canada has a very good write up about all the effects of idling towards climate change, which I would highly recommend reading, but summed up they come to the following conclusion: "In fact, if Canadian motorists avoided idling for just three minutes every day of the year, carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by 1.4 million tonnes annually. This would be equal to saving 630 million litres of fuel and equivalent to taking 320,000 cars off of the road for the entire year. Eliminating unnecessary idling is one easy action that Canadians can take to reduce their green house gas emissions that are contributing to climate change."
This is just for Canada, if one considers that California alone has more licensed drivers then Canada, just imagine the impact of idling cars in the US...

OK, what about money??

NRDC:" Less idling means less wasted fuel, which can save your company money. A six-cylinder diesel vehicle that idles for one hour a day wastes more than $1600 worth of fuel over the course of a year, with gas at $2.50/gallon." I hope nobody idles quite that long, but considering that gas price are way higher now then $ 2.50/gallon the amount of money wasted could come close.

EDN: "A popular misconception is that idling your car uses less gas than turning it off and restarting. The truth is, if you are going to be sitting more than 30 seconds, it is more fuel efficient to turn your engine off."

Natural Resources Canada: " In fact, one of the most powerful arguments in favour of reduced idling is an economic one. For the average vehicle with a 3-litre engine, every 10 minutes of idling costs 300 millilitres (over 1 cup) in wasted fuel – and one half of a litre (over 2 cups) if your vehicle has a 5-litre engine. Unnecessary idling wastes fuel – and wasted fuel is wasted money."

I see, I see, the car enthusiasts are raising their fingers.....what about the car when it's cold?? I need to idle to warm it up properly, right?

Hmmm, maybe not....let me again quote some authorities:

California Energy Commission: 

"Myth #1: The engine should be warmed up before driving. Reality: Idling is not an effective way to warm up your vehicle, even in cold weather. The best way to do this is to drive the vehicle. With today's modern engines, you need no more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days before driving away.
Myth #2: Idling is good for your engine. Reality: Excessive idling can actually damage your engine components, including cylinders, spark plugs, and exhaust systems. Fuel is only partially combusted when idling because an engine does not operate at its peak temperature. This leads to the build up of fuel residues on cylinder walls that can damage engine components and increase fuel consumption.
Myth #3: Shutting off and restarting your vehicle is hard on the engine and uses more gas than if you leave it running. Reality: Frequent restarting has little impact on engine components like the battery and the starter motor. Component wear caused by restarting the engine is estimated to add $10 per year to the cost of driving, money that will likely be recovered several times over in fuel savings from reduced idling. The bottom line is that more than ten seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine."

Natural Resources Canada again has a informative website about that, the short version being:
"Contrary to popular belief, excessive idling is not an effective way to warm up your vehicle, even in cold weather. The best way to warm it up is to drive it. [ ] What's often forgotten is that idling warms only the engine – not the wheel bearings, steering, suspension, transmission and tires. These parts also need to be warmed up, and the only way to do that is to drive the vehicle."

BTW, I also saw a lot of people idle here in summer, to keep the inside of their car cool...no car related excuse here...

Next time you are tempted to idle, think twice!