2011 Holiday Greetings from Loren and Denise

Kwung Suk_WW#68_Last WW of 2011

Kwung Suk a very interesting mature WW from South Korea contacted us early in mid June when he was woofing near Nanaimo at a lodge. He was traveling in Canada for 5 months. He had past experience in woofing in both Australia and NZ, and was working on his English skills.


However because his English skills still needed work, and I didn’t realize that, we had some difficulties from the start. We originally had made arrangements for Kwung Suk to arrive mid September, and I had asked him to confirm closer to the date, and he didn’t respond to my request to confirm his arrival, so when we had no contact from him we booked Nora and I made plans to be away. Then we received a phone call from Kwung Suk who was at the Golden bus depot. At this time we were guests at a dinner engagement. We made the best of it and Kwung Suk made his accommodations in the bus. We did take him and Nora fishing, and they attended my dance recital. However,  the work we had for him was not what he expected and we do expect our ww to help out. Further, Nora had pretty much wrapped up the garden chores and all we had left was firewood, which is heavy work. In the end Kwung Suk headed for Calgary to rent a car and tour the Rockies. We hope he had a great trip in the Rockies. I did not receive any photos of Kwung Suk and since I was away when he left, I didn't have a chance ask for one, perhaps he will send us a photo.

Nora_WW#67

Nora from Germany arrived shortly after Jess had left, so we really had very little to do around the place. However we manage to find enough to keep her busy and Nora was able to find things to do in her spare time. We went fishing to Susan Lake with our other woofer Kwung Suk who arrived while she was here, we didn’t catch any fish, very unusual for Susan Lake, but the weather was warm and scenery beautiful. Unfortunately while Nora was here I had to take a trip to Chilliwack for a family visit, so it was a short woofing experience for us. Nora helped with firewood, tidying up at the lodge and putting vegetables from the garden into the freezer. After Nora left here she toured the Rocky Mountains tour with a friend. She said “it was amazing. We've been in Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper. In Jasper we had luck to meet a nice girl with a car (unfortunately we had none). So we were able to visit the icefields and some waterfalls.” Nora then went onto woof at a sheep farm in the foothills outside of Calgary, where she sorted wool and seeded pasture.  We enjoyed Nora’s visit and hope she is having a ‘good life!’

Jess_ww#66

Jessica who is known as Jess, calls Britain home. Jess was no stranger to woofing, as she had spent time woofing in Europe.  While woofing she had made friends with another woofer, and was visiting in Calgary.
They had planned a trip in September and Jess was anxious to get out of the city, so woofing was logical. Further Jess was a great woofer as she was very independent.
We had finished up logging at Donald so had some time to go fishing. First we went out for a day with friends from the lodge, then we spent a wkend fishing and camping at Kinbasket, other friends. Again we didn't catch any fish worth bragging about. But we did go for a hike, and Jess learnt to play crib.
Jess helped with some cleaning at the lodge, gardening and helped to finish perma chinking the outside of the cabin.
I am feeling bad that this is the only photo I have of Jess, not sure where the rest got to. In this photo we are fishing while Jess practices knitting, the knitting was a continuous source of jokes, as there were a few stitches missing and added.

Jess had offered to house sit in December, however it turned out that Loren was running the processor on another woodlot, so  we didn't get away for a holiday, and since things were guiet at the lodge we din't need help. Too bad as  Jess' is rialable and fun company.

Stepanie and Romy_Return WWs 64 & 65

Sept 20 to 30th 2011Stephanie and Romy, were wws here Nov 2009. They then left us and went on to work in both Canmore and Banff, and woof at the middle of the West Coast Trail. They did a lot of hiking, x country skiing and travelling in the year they were in Bc. They left Canada in August 2010 and started school that Sept. They are both studying Tourism.  This summer their holiday consisted of revisiting or you can say rewoofing with us, travelling to Prince Rupert to take the ferry to Alaska and then onto meet their parents at Skagway and onto hike the Chilcoot (Gold Rush) Trail. 
While they were here, they weeded the entire garden. It really made a difference at it had been neneglected between woofer.  They helped with the lodge and put a dent in the permachinking (filling the gaps between the logs) of the inside and some outside walls of the cabin.
Of course their accordion playing had really improved and they were playing very complicated pieces. It was fun to have them here again, even though we were quite busy with harvesting on the woodlot at Donald. We did take a day hike into Gorman with Doug, Darlene, Rick and Jana. Once there Doug and Stephanie and Romy hiked to the ridge of the slope to the west, and when the returned Stephanie and Romy swam in Gorman Lake. They were the fist wws we've hosted who have braved the ice cold water. There was still ice on one edge of the lake.  They were also our first wws to hike to the summit (carin) of Willowbank.  Needless to say they are both very fit.
We are looking forward to hearing their tails of Alaska and the Yukon.  I know we will see Romy and Stephanie again as they love Canada and especially the wilderness.

2018-17-01 Update from Stephanie and Romy

Stephanie and me finally finished our studies and started to do a PhD in environmental sciences (plant ecophysiology and soil bio-geo-chemistry) in the Alps of Germany. Work is quite interesting, but sometimes also a bit challenging. I am learning a lot about the functioning of plants, the hydraulic properties during drought and heat stress and carbon cycling. We already had a lot of snow in December and now the snow is coming back after a melting period. The institute is very close to the cross-country skiing track, so we went skating during the lunch break with our colleagues which was quite a lot of fun! Attached you find some pictures from our glacier tour in summer – up to 3500 meters from hut to hut. It was amazing to walk between the cracks and enjoy these beautiful alpine environments! Hope they remain there for other generations! We also visited England and the Tower bridge in London (Photo attached).

Hope to come to Canada again one day to see you

David_WW_63_France_June 29th to July 10th_2011

David left this morning, now we have a break in the stream of fine and fun willing workers since spring. David an independent ww, who was usually smiling  has been travelling between school years. Before the Blaeberry he had been travelling and hiking in BC, with his next plans to woof near Pincher Creek Alberta, onto Yellowstone Park and then finish up in LA.  David was here while Anais and Daniel were here. The first Monday after he arrived all three of them took the medi bus to Radium for some hiking and swimming at the hot springs.  Then on Tues, the work started, with two guys it was a great opportunity to do some heaver work, firewood, dig up the pathway in the garden and. move soil. After Daniel and Anais left David painted the front of the barn and he house sat while we went to Kamloops. Another day he helped to put in fence posts for a new fence and gather rails for the fence around the lodge. On the last Saturday David was here, we were busy at the lodge, so David caught a ride to Gacier Park with a neighbour who works there, and went hiking for the day. Although the weather wasn't perfect, he hiked past the snowline and had a great day. We know David will have great adventures.

Anais_WW_61_France_June 19th to July 7th





Anais was here almost 3 weeks. Anais just graduated from school as a hospitality manager and I can see her managing a lodge someday. Anais was a great help, she cleaned in the lodge, kept the barn clean, weeded in the garden and flower beds, helped with the heavy firewood, baked batches of yummy cookies, and helped with a lot of the housework.  But it wasn’t all work, while Anais was here, Daniel arrived and then David. We visited Thompson Falls one evening, went fishing twice, and then Daniel, David and Anais volunteered at the Canada celebration with Alicksa from the Golden Chamber of Commerce, and then one day the wws and Alicksa and I went into Yoho Park to sight-seeing and hiked into Wapta Fall. After three weeks here, we found it quite different without Anais, she was immediately missed by all of us. Anais left for Lake Louis to hike and then she was headed to woof near Saskatoon. I had an email from Anais today, she met a lot of friends in Lake Louis and hiked many of the trails she had hope to hike.

Daniel_Number_62_Munich June 25th to July 6th_2011

Can we really say that Daniel is WW Number 62 when Daniel first visited us in the fall of 2005 as WW # 13. Now finished his studies as an Engineer interested in alternative energy, Daniel returned to find the lodge open, a pond and a hub of activity. It was great to have Daniel around, he is always happy. Unfortunately while he was here Loren was recovering from a sore knee, so no hiking for us as a group. This wasn’t a problem for Daniel as he had been hiking in for a week before he arrived here. Anais was already here when Daniel arrived, and then four days later David arrived. As a group they kept themselves busy. They volunteered at the Canada celebration with our neighbour from the Golden Chamber of Commerce, road the gondola up Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, hiked into Wapta Falls, visited Takaka Falls and had tea at Emerald Lake. Daniel went to Susan Lake twice, the first time while just Anis was here and the fishing was great, the second time it was all of us and the canoe as well. The weather was much better than the fishing (we were skunked for the first time in ages). Daniel helped with clearing the ground for a walkway in the garden, heaving firewood, mowing lawns and much shavelling (there's a joke in this mis-spelling)…We look forward to Daniel’s return, and who knows perhaps we’ll see him in Munich, that is unless he takes work in another country.




Woofer #60_Kai_Germany_June 7th_12th, 2011





Wow, since August of 2003, we have had 60 willing workings. And overall, the experience has been postive and rewardng. Kai was another positive and willing to learn willing worker.  Since he was only here for a week, we were just getting to know him when it was time for him to leave. Kai found the atmospehre here and the work during the day in the garden 'very peaceful and a contrast to the noisy cities' he'd visited before he came here. Although when leaving Kai expalined that he enjoyed the quite, but preferred something more like a villae where there are more people.  Kai had a great work ehtic. He worked a lot in the garden, raked around the chicken coupe and chased down invasive weeds in the garden. We did mange a sucessful fishing trip to Susan lake, and as a result Kai learned how to fillet a trout.

Susann, from Germany April 22 to May 14th 2011

Susann arrived while Eve and Julian were still at the farm, so her introduction to our place was a group experience. As they say ‘many hands make light work!’ With all three willing workers we did a job we had been putting off for some time, falling and clearing two big trees, one by the wood shed and another by the parking lot at the lodge. Susann had flown into Calgary and was only there 2 days before she caught the bus to Golden. She was very happy to be in the country and fit right into our routine. Especially since was from a relatively small village near Berlin, where her Mother had a large garden.

Susann kept busy helping with both domestic chores and the garden. She did a lot of weeding and preparing the soil and then she planted peas, onions and potatoes. It is now June 6th and these plants are up and doing great. Susann helped Loren rebuild our outdoor chicken coup so it would be ready new chickens. Gregor had done a great job of this several years back, but we were having problems with ravens and hawks stealing chickens and eggs, so Susann helped Loren cover the outside coup with wire mesh. She did not see the new chickens arrive as it was supposed to be midweek after she left, however Susann when you read this you will laugh at what I’m to say next. I thought I had made arrangements to buy chickens that were ready to lay, so when it was time to pick up the layers, Loren and I loaded the large wire cage in the back of the truck and drove to the feed store to pick up the birds. On arrival the woman at the store told us it would be too cold to transport the chickens in the cage in the back of the truck. And proceeded to tell me she had a box we could use. I was suspicious when I saw the size of the box (too small for 8 full grown layers), but when she asked if I needed chick started I realized I had made a mistake, and asked her ‘are these full grown layers.’ ‘No, they are chicks’ she replied, and I knew I had made an assumption that we were getting ready to lay layers, and not laying chicks. To make a long story short, she agreed to keep the chicks for another buyer, and Loren and I picked up hens at the end of May from a chicken farmer Salmon Arm. Then hens are just starting to lay and seem to like the remodelled coup. Susann also helped Loren to build the bridge over the water feature (she really liked working with wood). Susann also did a great job of cleaning and treating the horse harnesses.

Susann did a couple of touristy activities while she was here. One evening she accompanied me to an all lades birthday party and bike ride. It was the day after the Royal Wedding, so all of us wore crowns on our helmets. She took the medi bus to Radium, accompanied me to Banff of an appointment, where she did the tourist stuff and ventured out on several walks and bike rides in the Blaeberry.

Like all woofers we’re sorry to see Susann leave, however because she was with us for almost three weeks and with us most days, all day, it was especially difficult to say ‘Good-bye!’

Eva and Julian, May 17 to 24th, 2011

Eve and Julian, both from France had been in Quebec for the winter and had hitch-hiked across Canada to BC. They arrived on a Sunday and left a week later on a Sunday. A short stay because they were on route to the Yukon and maybe Alaska for an adventure. We still had a bit of snow when they arrived, so we had them do some spring cleaning in the lodge, brush clearing around the yard and raking of the lawns. Because there was still snow, we couldn’t do much for site seeing. However we did go down to the Columbia River one afternoon where we saw a herd of elk swim across the river. Then one afternoon Eve, Julian and Suzanne (a woofer who arrived the Friday before they left) all went for a bike ride around the Blaeberry.


The weekend that they left was the Easter long weekend. On the Friday evening we had a bonfire at a neighbour’s and then on the Saturday evening before they left, we had Easter Dinner at another neighbours.

On the Sunday morning Loren drove Eve and Julian to Golden where they hiked toward Kamloops to meet a fellow traveller and rent a car for their trip to Alaska. They were renting a compact economy car, not only because it was less expense to rent, but also cheaper on gas. Loren had fun teasing them about the car, because he envisioned the three of them and all of their gear packed into the car like sardines in a can.

I did hear from Eve that they were back and in Vancouver. Eve was headed home to France and Julian was headed to the Okanogan for summer work picking fruit.