Fauquier BC

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 37 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Of Hops and the Joy of Raised Garden Beds

You will remember the video I presented on this blog that gave you some impressions of the simplicity of raised garden beds. At age 78 I strive to make things simpler, more efficient and ultimately more relaxing with gardening as one of the many areas of this lofty goal.

Weeding when needed at all has turned into a pleasurable activity. For the last four weeks or so my wife and I have been eating our own lettuce, beans, strawberries, with cucumbers and red beets recently added to the delicious mix of fruits and vegetables. As a bonus I added another photo of the various hops plants, which are beginning to develop those cones that are responsible for the fine refreshing taste of a homemade craft beer. Enjoy.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 36 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Canoe Trip To ‘Our’ Island

Across the Lake from Fauquier BC lies an island that used to be connected with the west side of the land south of the Needles ferry terminal. In the late 1960s BC Hydro built a dam near the American border to regulate the lake level and of course to generate power. As a result of this action many small communities were flooded and people were forced off their land. This is how this tiny island was created. I call this abandoned former farmstead our island, because very few people go there and we like to spend some time there all alone, explore its ancient apple orchards, relax and go swimming in the crystal-clear and refreshing waters in the heat of the summer. Recently I recorded such a canoe trip to this amazing little island on my movie camera. Enjoy.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 19 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

More Tall Grasses and Beauty in the Thicket

The Alberta rose had her hay-day, the creeks are adopting a more tranquil tone, and the local golf course is busier than ever in spite of Covid-19. But Nature shows a more summer-like appearance now. The wild cherry trees are loaded, the Saskatoon berries are getting ripe and as reported last week my wife and I have been picking huckleberries, the wild relatives of the blueberry. Here is another set of recent photos I took when taking a leisurely walk with my wife along the edge of the local golf course. Enjoy.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 33 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Mountain Air, Wildflowers and Huckleberries

Last week I took my wife to one of our favourite huckleberry spots about a 1000 m above sea level. She was extremely grateful, as she is a passionate gatherer of all kinds of wild and garden berries. For those of you unfamiliar with huckleberries, they are a distant relative of the commercial blueberries. However, the huckleberries are superior in taste and nutritious value. The heat was bad and the mosquitoes even worse, but the extra pain was worth every minute of the ordeal. I used the opportunity to capture the scenery with my video camera. Enjoy.

Huckleberries among the Wildflowers

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 32 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

The Miraculous Alberta Rose

On a recent walk down to the Arrow Lake and our local Heart Creek we encountered so many wild roses that I decided to devote an entire post to the Alberta rose, which is also native to much of the BC landscape. As an emblem, it represents our neighbouring province to the east. It is extremely hardy as far as roses go. It can easily take -40 degrees weather and raging blizzards, which are quite frequent in that corner of the world. It must feel like being in heaven here in our relatively mild Pacific climate. So here are five pictures of our recent evening walk. Enjoy.

My wife viewed through a frame of roses with the golf course in the background.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 30 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Wondrous Sights on the Way to Nakusp

Last Tuesday I drove to Nakusp to do our weekly grocery shopping. It was a wonderful late spring day wildflowers blooming everywhere. I had to stop at a creek which was cascading down the mountain into the Arrow Lake. At a boat launch near Burton I captured a beautiful lakeside scene. You may remember a similar shot I took last year. At the Burton bridge, I spotted a lone duck happily cruising through the reeds. There I also captured the lake view with its dramatic cloud formation and the daisies creating a pleasant foreground. And then there were the lupines that adorn the highway on each side this time of the year from Fauquier all the way to Nakusp. Enjoy.