Time stands still

Yesterday I managed to zip up to Bert's and pick some apricots. I guess I haven't mentioned that I've had a sort of strange pain in my belly and I'm waiting for some tests to come back from my doctor to try and find out what it is. It's slowed me down a bit but not wanting to see anything go to waste, I knew I had to get up there before all the apricots end up on the ground. I managed to pick a couple of buckets, one for myself and one I left for Bert and Jaycee. I plan on going back up sometime today and picking more.

While I was there I stepped back in time and entered Bert's barn and chicken coop. Camera in hand (as always) I really felt as if time had stood still in the two buildings. Upon entering the chicken coop one immediately spots an old yellow wood cookstove, unfortunately I was so totally overwhelmed with the actual coop I forgot to snap a picture of the stove (hand smacking forehead). I guess I'll have to take a picture another day. But... I did take a few other pics.

Jaycee, Sydney, and Jevan standing in the doorway of the barn.

Sydney standing beside the heater stove in the center room of the Chicken Coop. The roost is to her left and there's 20 boxes for laying to her right.


I don't think I've ever seen a heater this old. I guess Bert was as kind to his chickens as I like to be to mine, they need to be warm in the winter :)

The door of the heater. I'm not sure if the "38" means the year or not, could be a model number??

Sydney standing beneath one of the many apricot trees.

Jevan wandering around Bert's place.

After picking apricots, and touring the barn and coop, we headed into the house to say hello to Bert and I snapped a few more pictures. This is a picture of his living room and, again, it's like time standing still. Bert build his house 60 years ago and I don't think a lot has changed in all those years. If it weren't for the TV sets I'd swear I was in 1940!

And I finally, finally was able to snap a picture of Bert! Jevan was handing him apricots and he was eating them up. He's very hard of hearing and his eyesight isn't so good but he can carry on a pretty good conversation with you if you raise your voice loud enough. His cup of tea sits nearby and he'll take small sips in between talking to you. I find the man fascinating and wonder at all the things he's seen in his 95 years. As I was leaving I told him I'd bring him some of my garden Yukon gold potatoes, he politely told me that it was okay if I didn't, but I told him it would be in trade for the apricots, he then smiled and let out a bit of a chuckle, then said that would be a fair trade :) Don't let Bert's appearance fool you, he's able to get up and take short walks around inside his house. He puts himself to bed, as Jaycee leaves him every night after cooking his supper. She returns the next morning and if it's cold Bert will have a fire going in the old wood cookstove in his kitchen. Until Jaycee started using a small two burner hotplate and microwave, all Bert's meals were cooked on it. The man is fiercely independent and is determined to live out his final days on his ranch built by himself over a 60 year span.