Summer is always marred by the threat of fire. The States and Yukon in the north were particularly affected and historic Jasper burned. But you can see from this map that, at the beginning of the season, most of BC was untouched. The curser, below “Columbia” is my approximate location.

Later, there were thunderstorms, and the fires came closer. But still my area was spared.

Other parts of the country were breaking heat records, but our weather remained cool and damp. There was not even a lot of smoke. It was the most fire-free season I can remember.

Nonetheless, I asked my neighbour to screw sprinklers onto the roof. The pump at the beaver pond can just manage to get enough pressure to run the sprinklers, as long as water is not going anywhere else.

The garden produced nicely.

Evening flowers

One day a buck crept into my yard.

Then he saw the dog, and off he went!

The rain showers kept coming.

Fireweed flourished in the burn

Nuk Tessli sent me a couple of batches of volunteers. They stayed only a few days each, but they managed to put the roof structure on the greenhouse, which has been sitting naked for 2 years. I find it so slow to do ladder work I was really grateful for this help.

Then along came Super Sarah who has volunteered many times for me. She now has a regular job so can get only limited time off. However, with Sarah’s mother looking after the kids, she finished the roof.

The next picture is taken in December After I got my firewood in I managed to put two walls up and build one of the soil boxes. More logs are piled into it, with luck I can finish the second before spring.

Sarah lives in a town and the kids had a ball running around here.

They were fascinated by the outhouse.

All of a sudden the vegetation along the road was looking tired.

Then the dogbane turned yellow – always the first plant to change colour. Summer, therefore, was over.