Friends in Need

The new blue picnic table on our front porch.

... are especially nice especially when you don't know you are in need. Wayne and I came home after a mini-vacation to Vancouver Island to discover a new picnic table on our front porch.

We talked through all the possibilities of how it could have gotten there but weren't sure until we found a note tucked under a solar light on our old table.

Last summer our good friends Dave and Marg stayed at our cabin on the way home from our barge camping and quad riding trip to the head of Powell Lake. They noticed that our old table was missing one leg and sitting on an old shake block found floating in the lake.

Dave built the table in town and delivered it right to our cabin on Powell Lake.

Dave built us a new table in his shop at home and Marg came with him in their boat to make the delivery when they knew we would be away. What a surprise that was. Doesn't it look great! I love the colour that matches our cabin roof. Thanks so much Dave and Marg. You are super special friends in many ways.

Using the repurposed old picnic table as a work bench.

And what about the old picnic table you ask? Never fear. It has been repurposed into a work bench at the back of the cabin.

I used it to make my painted rock ladybug and Wayne is using it to sand and paint the wooden floorboards for our sailboat Ste. Marie.

Have you ever received something special from friends? Tell us your story. -- Margy

Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer

Mother Nature uses morning haze on the Strait of Georgia to paint a watercolour picture.

 We had plenty of time to enjoy the view while trolling for salmon on the calm seas.

Summer is such a wonderful time of year. What have you been doing for fun? -- Margy

Painted Rock Ladybug

Many years ago my friend John pulled a large rock up from our Powell Lake natural swimming pool. He left it sitting on a partially submerged stump and there it sat for about a week.

As I looked at the rock it kept saying "turtle" to me, so that's what it became, a large rock painted into a turtle. His name is Kobe. Wayne said he looked more like Kobe Bryant's basketball shoe. What an art critic.

Last year I started looking for a smooth rock along the lake shore that said "ladybug" to me. I found it on Kinsmen Beach next to the Shinglemill Marina where we park our boat. I finally got around to painting it this summer.

Now that our good friends Dave and Marg gave us a new picnic table for the front porch, the old one has become a work bench at the back of the cabin. It was the perfect spot for rock painting.

I used acrylic paints to transform the rock into its new character. Then I used Krylon clear acrylic spray to preserve the colours in the outdoor setting.

Now both Kobe the Turtle and the new ladybug share a spot on the corner of our new float at the front of the cabin.

They have two functions. The first is to add colour and decoration year round. The second function is to weigh down this corner of the float. It was a bit higher than the other side. Now they look symmetrical as your approach by boat.

Now I need to figure out a name for her. Do you have any suggestions? -- Margy

"Dead Lucky" by Lincoln Hall

In recent years, I’ve read several books and watched movies about mountain climbers who have challenged themselves to reach the top of Mount Everest. 

The most recent book was Dead Lucky by Lincoln Hall (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2009). Like many mountaineers, Hall had a long history climbing the highest mountains in the world. As his skills and accomplishments grew, he became one of Australia most renowned mountaineers.

His first attempt to climb Everest was in 1984, but he was forced to turn back when daylight was running out. Then in 2004 an old friend contacted him about serving as a high altitude documentary cameraman for a fourteen year old Australian boy who wanted to climb Everest. The opportunity was too tempting, and Lincoln had what he called “unfinished business.”

After more than a year of fundraising and physical preparation, the team left for Base Camp to join a guided expedition with the 7SUMMITS-CLUB. During acclimatization climbs it became evident that young Christopher could not continue. Despite that setback, Lincoln was still allowed to make his own summit attempt.

They say the hardest part of climbing Mount Everest isn’t going up, it’s coming back down. Even though Lincoln made it to the top, his body started to falter quickly on the descent. It became so bad that he was left for dead at the 28,000-foot level. Dead Lucky sets the stage for Lincoln’s successful climb and tragic yet miraculous descent. His successes include reaching the 29,035-foot summit and surviving the night without oxygen and supplies within the notorious “death zone.”

Dead Lucky is an amazing story about one man’s quest to reach a goal and surviving to return to his family. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys true stories about brave people who do remarkable things. -- Margy

Cranberry Orange Nut Bread

I like to make sweet nut breads because they can be used as a breakfast item, a lunch snack or an easy dessert after dinner. I make several sweet breads for this purpose. If I have ripe bananas, it's Banana Nut Bread. I also make a Cranberry Pineapple Nut Bread.  But my favourite is Cranberry Orange Nut Bread. Here's the recipe I used from allrecipes.com.

Cranberry Orange Nut Bread

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup chopped cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon orange zest

If you use dried cranberries, put one cup in a little water and bring them to a boil. Remove from heat and let them reconstitute while you prepare the other ingredients.

Mix together the egg, oil, orange juice, and orange zest. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture, and stir until just blended. Mix in cranberries and nuts (I prefer pecans).

Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan (or two smaller ones) and spoon in the batter. Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan(s) and cool completely.

I like to use the small pans because the bread cuts just the right size to make little sandwiches filled with pineapple cream cheese spread for lunch. -- Margy

“The Queen of the North Disaster” by Colin Henthorne

I got The Queen of the North Disaster: The Captain’s Story (Harbour Publishing, 2016) by Colin Henthorne as a Christmas present for Wayne.

I knew we both would be interested in the captain’s first-hand account of the sinking of the BC Ferries Queen of the North off Gil Island in the Inside Passage of British Columbia’s northern coast.

Our hometown of Powell River is ferry dependent. If you want to come to or leave Powell River there are only two choices, by sea or air.

Flying on Pacific Coastal Airlines from Vancouver is quick, but relatively expensive. For the majority of people, BC Ferries is the logical choice for public transportation.

The other reason we were greatly interested in this book was because we were awakened around midnight on March 22, 2006, to heavy rain and destructive winds slamming our float cabin back and forth on her steel cable shore anchors. There was no way to get back to sleep, so we turned on the radio to listen to CBC. Rather than calming our nerves, we listened to the unfolding disaster happening to 101 passengers and crew far to the north.

Our bedside rechargeable CC Radio.

It was a terrible night for passengers and crew. Without warning, the side of the ferry was ripped open. Within 32 minutes, the crew searched and evacuated the entire ship. Even though it was a dangerous night, people with fishing boats from the First Nations community at Hartley Bay came to their assistance before the Coast Guard arrived. While it appeared everyone was evacuated, it was later determined that two passengers could not be found despite extensive land and sea searches.

The marine disaster resulted in commendations for the orderly evacuation, then lawsuits, court cases, sentences and firings. Colin Henthorne lost, then regained, only to lose again his position with BC Ferries. Crew on the bridge that night also had their lives disrupted by conjecture and innuendo, even prison time for one.

Captain Henthorne tells the story from his point of view including details about the Queen of the North as a ship, her workings, her crew and their responsibilities, and the events of that fateful night.

I recommend this book if you are interested in the history of naval accounts, if you use BC Ferries, or if you remember the incident and subsequent investigations. I learned a lot about the disaster and the ferry system that is a big part of my life. -- Margy