Proof! That the sun doth shine, and breezes doth tease the aspen leaves in Prince George …
Our campsite is surrounded by these beautiful trees. I’ve always loved the way the wind makes their leaves ‘shiver’ as though they’re talking to each other … perhaps they are.
Today was our first official ‘Pootling Day’. We’ve pootled to a few places since we’ve been here, but those little adventures were in conjunction with other tasks, and all of them in to Prince George. Today we headed away from town … Note to self: Find out if the locals refer to Prince George as a ‘town’, or a ‘city’. (or something unprintable) … to a little puddle called Buckhorn Lake … about 30 kilometers south-east-ish of Prince George.
The drive there, almost entirely on a sealed road, quickly passed through the swampy lowlands, that are reminiscent of our campground, hence the plague of mozzies that greet us every morning the moment we stick our noses out the door without having engaged our whizz-bang ‘mozzie-shield’. (which, although expensive, actually does work, on mozzies … a good thing because the little bastards love me, and I’m allergic to them)
We saw mostly horses out there, lots of stables and fields of horses, (although a few cow-herds were visible in the background) which told us that that particular area was probably a bit pricey for our humble means.
Once we got into the foothills of the Mountain range that surrounds Prince George, the Cariboo Mountains, the properties and houses became more modest, more our kinda thing really, and the mozzies were few and far between. (unfortunately replaced by tiny black flies, who, I’m sure would’ve enjoyed dining upon my person if I’d let them)
Then the lake hove into sight, and we stopped to take in the view …
It seems that we’re destined to have a lot more cloudy days (at the moment) than non-cloudy ones, but the reflections in the water were quite wonderous …
And some very, very, very, tall cottonwoods …
Mrs Widds recalled the name of this flower, and the tree it’s blooming on, as a broom tree.
A rose by any other name
Whether ‘tis or no, it is now and forever after known as a Broom Tree.
The Naturalist ponders
We breathed in the lovely lake-side air, but the clouds began their afternoon loom and raindrops were spit-spotting upon our heads. We about-pootled and returned to our ‘home, only to catch a fleeting glimpse of ‘The Vandal’, perhaps wondering where we’d been and why we hadn’t left out any suitable oblations …
Widdershins Worlds 
Pootle away.
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Indeed we shall. 😀 … relaxed pootling has been a while in coming. 🙂
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Nice scenes from the PG vicinity! I never heard of Buckhorn Lake, but most of my family’s outings when I lived there (in the mid ’60s!) were to the north and west, toward Vanderhoof. I wonder if that yellow-flowered shrub might be a caragana? I don’t remember them from PG, but they were quite common in Saskatoon. I had a caragana hedge there.
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I checked, it looks like what we saw. The flowers have that sort of honeysuckle-ish look going on. 🙂
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Nice relaxed pootling
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It’s the only way to poot. 🙂
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We have a Buckhorn lake near my home town of Peterborough Ontario!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckhorn_Lake_(Ontario)
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ah-hah, so there is! 😀
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I don’t know if trees talk to one another, but I do confess that I always speak to them when I can, and I apologise for stepping on their roots. My mother used to consider at length whether teacups felt pain when broken, and I have to say that I do think that something’s hurt – even if “only” our environment. Given how little we Hoomans see and take note of in our own Hooman world then it’s a fair bet that we see near nought of any other.
Keep on pootling on.
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They do. They exchange all sorts of information between their own species, and neighbouring species as well, sharing resources, that sort of thing. Rather egalitarian of them. 🙂
Pootlings shall continue! 😀
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Amazing set of pics and videos, Widds… Finally, we can really appreciate your mission! Happy days…
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Good. 🙂 … it feels like we’re finally getting into a rhythm, of sorts, with this new way of living. 😀
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We are happy for you both, Widds…
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That’s what I love about Canada! There are these incredible pockets of beauty that seem to feed our souls.
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Yep. Give me the greenery and a bit of a mountain and I’m a happy camper – literally! 😀
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Nice! Not a bad place to be stuck for a while.
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I grumble a bit, we both do, about various things, but all-in-all, we’re glad to be here. 😀
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Great videos, Widds. Keep ’em coming. I was particularly impressed with the one of the cottonwoods. I honestly thought you’d fall over backwards before you reached the top. They’re /huge/! Oh and say hello to Vandal for me. 😀
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Those trees just went on and on and on! 😀 … I thought you’d like the Vandal visit. 😀 This morning the little bugger was standing next to Mrs Widds and I tried to let her know without startling her, (she’s not fond of rodent-y beasties when they get up close and personal) but before I could say anything, Vandal decided to bolt just as she turned around. She didn’t scream, but I definitely heard a squeak. 🙂
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-giggles- oops?
I’m pretty sure squirrels don’t have the same unsanitary problems as rats – different diet or something?
I CANNOT cope with rats of any description, even the pretty pet ones, so I do empathize with Mrs Widds. The cats once brought in a live rat and let it go in the house. I did more than squeak. The broom and I managed to lock the beast in my bathroom, and there it stayed until a pest exterminator finally came out. He said the rat had already died, probably of dehydration, so I felt rather bad about that – and the bill – but at least I got my bathroom back again. Do not like rats. Nope.
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You are in my childhood territory 🥰 I spent a summer vacation in Eddy, a really small place hidden behind McBride. My cousins settled in McBride, I think because my aunt had family there. Thanks for the trip down memory lane…
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You’re very welcome. 😀
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There’s a lovely Scots song “When the yellow’s on the broom” about the travelling folk setting out again after the winter. I think broom is a bush rather than a tree (in the UK at least – there may be other forms of it elsewhere).
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Looks to be a bush here too. 🙂
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