I love my job/life!

It seems so much easier to put a blogpost together when I actually have something to write about. Or better, when I have pictures to show. This time there are a few things to say, but definitely things to show.  I also wasn't sure how to name this particular post, but I think this sums it up nicely.

Why so happy? Partly because they let me out of the office for the last two weeks! I spent a good chunk of the last two weeks outside, and what is better than spending time in the woods, especially with some really knowledgeable and great people?
It started about 2 weeks ago with a workshop which was a nice opportunity to catch up with people I hadn't seen in a while (including my supervisor, who lives/works about 800 km from Ottawa). I think the highlight of the workshop was the roast (retirement sent-off) of one of my colleagues from the provincial government. For maybe obvious reasons I won't post any photos... Trust me if I say it was a great night :)
After the workshop, we spent two days touring research sites. The first day we visited McConnell Lake, north of North Bay (close to Temiskaming), to look at a white pine competition study. It was the first removal cut of the overstorey, since the regeneration has established quite well. Remarkable was the amount of red pine in the understory! The photos below give an impression of the site.

This photos is really cool. The little stem in the centre is the original stem when the tree was still very tiny (the trees were about 110 years when cut).

The next stop was the clear-cut site. It used to be a mix of low-quality popular and other mixedwoods. It was harvested about 10 years ago, and again, with the right site prep the regeneration was plentiful!

The following day we went to a red pine spacing study, but since that was on AECL property, we were not allowed to take any photos. The site visit was very successful though. We had some good discussions about next steps. It is due for remeasurement and treatments next year, and I'll be actively involved with this study. Looking forward to it!

Last week I spent most of my time at the PRF, helping out with the remeasurement of a white spruce genetics trial, but also had a chance to look at the harvest of the site of the biomass study, currently underway. As you can tell, they're using some serious equipment! And the snow has started to stick around...

But it's not just work. Life at home is pretty good too, and luckily Nolan doesn't mind spending some time outside as well. Today was chilly (-10), but sunny, so a great day to go for  a walk in the Greenbelt and feed the chickadees.

We also saw a pileated woodpecker:

And even more exciting, a white least weasel, but it was too quick for photo, but it looks like this:

(Source)

And of course, plenty of squirrels. We made a short movie of them being very vocal towards each other, but I have a hard time uploading it (too large?), so hopefully I can add that later. For now the photos:

Our cats are still doing well, although Murphy is starting to act a little weird lately...

Have a wonderful Christmas, and a happy, healthy New Year!

Just an update

Not sure what to write about, or what to update about.
One thing is for sure, the weather is back to normal. Summer weather is over, and we're back to normal with real March weather!
This morning we had a 29k run to complete, which we did so in the snow and rain! It's definitely been a while since we rain in either snow or rain. We made sure we kept a comfortable pace, and it paid off: we had a good run and felt strong until the end. Good news after a so-so week of running.
Work has also been busy and challenging at times, but I also finished a large project last Friday which felt really good. And I still really like what I do! On Tuesday, we had an hour long meeting while walking in the woods. How can you complain about that?!

On other news, the Ontario Woodlot Association had their Annual General Meeting last week, and I got re-elected to the Provincial Board of directors (I'm still on the executive committee as well; new members for the exec will elected at the next meeting). So that was good news.
We also went to the Ottawa Auto Show last week, where we tried to get an idea for a new vehicle. Well we did. Some of the cars that we thought would be a good fit, turned out to be not so great at all. And then some others were better than we thought they would be. The bonus of the auto show is that we don't have to visit several dealers. We now narrowed it down to a couple, and hopefully we can go for a test drive soon!

And that's pretty much it for us. Not much to tell. We're busy with work, running, our house, and just enjoying our lives in general!

December already??

Time just seems to fly, as usual. So before you know it, it's December! It just doesn't feel like December at all. Sure, the days are short and most people have their Christmas lights up by now, but there is no snow! We've had two minor snow falls, but that has all since disappeared. Everything is green, and today the temperature hit the double digits again! That, of course, won't help with getting the canal ready for skating...
Otherwise things are going well. Work is definitely picking up again. I have now four major projects on my plate, of which two could have quite the impact on our program. It's actually really cool working on things that really can make a difference, but it definitely adds to the pressure.
Last week I attended a two day session on biomass in North Bay, which was quite interesting. I was the moderator for the two morning sessions as well, so that added a different dimension to it as well.

Another highlight is that we won our first curling game this season! Funny part is that it wasn't even with our own team; we were sparing in JoAnn's team. But it doesn't matter, we won!

Not sure if I mentioned this before, but we bought another bird feeder, which seems to be quite popular with the local bird population. We have chickadees and house finches as regular visitors, and so far the squirrels are able to keep it alone! Next time I'll try to post some more pictures again.

And of course, tomorrow is Sinterklaas! I actually baked some real speculaas today, and the house smelled amazing!! We tried a couple of pieces and it tasted pretty good as well. We will save the rest for tomorrow, when we will have our own Sinterklaas celebration. Should be fun!

Running is also going well. The lack of snow does help with the ability to get out there, and we're really taking advantage of that. But I'm not complaining if we do get a bit of snow, and will be able to get our snowshoes out again!

It's about time...

For another update here on my life. I'm doing great!

A bit more elaboration... Obviously things have happened in the last week and a half; and most of it kept me off the street!
First of all, and most importantly, it was Nolan's birthday last week. So today, he is exactly 32 years and 1 week old. I'm still hoping that one day he will be older than me, but I have a feeling that might never happen... He also started this weird tradition to get sick on his birthday. Last year (when I was in Jasper and still don't hear the end of it...), he got sick by himself, and the same thing happened this year. We still managed to have a nice evening with pizza and beer, though. Relaxing!

I was all for a relaxing evening, trying to recover from our first day of the Component Leaders Forum. Agreed, I had some jitters beforehand, but in the end it went alright. Definitely a great experience, and I was glad to be part of it.

Did I mention that I got talked into curling this year? Nolan's team from last year dissolved, but he wanted to keep playing this year. He found another couple looking to play in the non-competitive league on Friday evening, so really I had no choice but say yes :)  And you know what? It's actually a lot of fun! I attended one training session last year, but had never really played a game before. And I know I can't really say this about myself, but I didn't even do that poorly. I might have done 'ok'! But most of all, it was fun and I enjoyed it. Surprisingly though, I was actually sore afterwards, and my back is still somewhat tight. Maybe I can talk a certain person into a massage...

On Friday the temperature started to drop, it absolutely poured rain, and Saturday was the first official day of fall. Or so it felt! But it was beautiful. After a very short night, I was on my way to the Outdoor Woodlot Conference in Beachburg early Saturday morning, and the drive alone was worth going. The leaves are turning (although the colours are not super dramatic this year), and the sun came out as well. Jut gorgeous. Besides manning the OWA booth, I was able to join a couple of the guided tours, and talked to a lot of people I hadn't seen in a while. It just shows that the forestry world, especially in this part of the country, is small and tight. And I'm proud to be part of it! On top of that, I also managed to negotiate a great deal for two 4' white pine saplings. The more trees the merrier!

We're also back into the running mode. This past Sunday we ran with Ann, and since Nolan was still getting better and Ann is slowly getting back into it, I did an extra loop at the end. And it payed of since I saw a fox! In full view, in no hurry, and in great shape. Pretty cool in the city!
This evening we went for a run in the greenbelt, and saw several deer and porcupines as well. We're just so lucky where we are and what we are able to do.

This week I'm taking the Essentials for Managing in the Public Service / Delegated Authority Course, and I am loving it! There is so much to learn, our teacher is awesome with a tonne experience and can present many real life examples. It really seems to connect the work we do with the bigger picture (i.e. the Government). It's another step forward...

This weekend we'll be home for Thanksgiving. The weather forecast is great, so hopefully we'll be able to get lots of stuff done in and around the house. We're staying put so no traveling, which is actually nice for change. Looking forward to a long weekend!!

A typical weekend

Remember last weekend I worked at the PRF? Roads washed out and we had to close the gates due to safety reasons. You can read about it here.
This weekend I am up at the PRF again, but it looks like this might be a more typical weekend. Yesterday was pretty quiet, and the fire index was low enough so I didn't have to send the student up the fire tower. This morning it was still pretty low, but when we checked at 1 pm, it had climbed enough that I decided to send a student up, just to make sure everything is ok.

Now I can hear you thinking, what is the fire index? The fire index is the Fire Weather Index, developed based on fire research done at the PRF. It takes several components into account, such as rainfall, temperature, wind speed and humidity, and based on those number calculates the FWI.  At the PRF we rely on it when deciding on whether to man the fire towers or not. Normally you man one fire tower when the index goes up to around 4, and two towers when you get close to 7. We normally check the index at 9 am, and again at 1 pm. In the afternoon, it also provides you with an 'predicted FWI', which we use in our decision to send someone up. There are two weather stations, so we receive two different FWI's. Since rainfall can be very local around here, the numbers can vary quit a bit. The weather stations closest to the office gave us a number of 3.2, and a prediction of 9.2. The station further away had a current FWI of 2.1, and a predicted FWI of 6.9. The station further away received more rain, and has therefore a lower number. Pretty cool, eh? So to be on the safe side, I sent one student up to the tower nearest by. Normally you would send someone to the further tower, and then if smoke is detected, someone else can quickly go to the nearest tower to get the second bearing. However, the far end of the property is still pretty wet, and there is no activity on the base, so the chances of seeing anything on that side are pretty low (knock on wood!). Hopefully there is no smoke detection today!

Another task is to make sure the roads are in good shape, no washouts or fallen trees, etc. It's one of the perks of working weekends, I get to see stuff like this:

Not bad, eh?
But I also get a lot of work done on the weekends, since there is minimal interruption from email or phone. The only thing that is hard: to be inside on a gorgeous day like today when the woods are calling...

Water

I recently finished Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, and if you are familiar with that book, you know that the four elements (water, fire, air and earth) play an important role. In my last post, I wrote about the fire. This time, it's time for water...

This weekend it was my turn to supervise the fire crew at the PRF. On a normal summer weekend, that would mean that two students would be in, manning the two fire towers for fire detecting. However, with all the rain we have had in the last few days, there would be no need to have the students come in, and I would mainly be working in the office, open and close the gates (the PRF is open to the public in the summer, mainly for fishing), and keep an eye on the place. Nothing too crazy, you'd say. It was looking like it would be quiet and I was actually looking forward to catching up to some of my work and get things done. Well, it was not to be...

Take a look at this and try to find the differences:

The photos are taken from a slightly different angle, but they were taken at the same place, about 2 hours apart... If you click on the top photo, you can see a beaver dam in the distance (where the green ends, and the darker colour starts, is where the dam is), and the water is obviously lower on this side of the dam. The second picture shows the water to the road, and the dam in the distance. The water is just simply flowing over the dam. There is a serious threat the road here can break, if the culvert can't handle all the water.

Now look at these:

Yep, same place again and about 3 hours apart as well. So a complete wash out. We had opened the gates this morning, but luckily nobody got stuck on the other side of this wash out, and we were able to have everybody out by 3 pm. I decided to lock the gates for the rest of the day, seeing that this could be a potential hazard... Once I found this wash out, I decided to follow the water to see if this wave had taken out more culverts. Well, unfortunately it did, and a I came upon a smaller one at the far end of the PRF. Some other crossings are not very stable either, and all the crossings have humongous water levels. Definitely something to keep an eye on.

In the midst of this all, a lady came to the office, obviously upset, telling me that her husband had left to go home, and was supposed to be home two hours ago... Luckily that ended well, and I think he probably just lost track of time.

At least I will have some help tomorrow, so we can check out all the crossings and culverts and make sure they are either well marked, or cleared from any debris. So much for trying to do office work. But it sure makes for a fun and interesting day!

Raccoons...

This afternoon when I came home from work, I decided to water the plants outside, so I opened the garage. In the garage, I heard this fairly loud noise, almost like a bird. It came from the side of the house, but when I checked it out, it turned out it was not a bird. There were two baby raccoons and one of them was making a lot of noise. The other one was too weak to really move or produce any noise. It really was a heartbreaking sight. I called several organizations, the city, the humane society and wild life sanctuaries, but nobody was willing, or able, to help. It was obvious they were suffering, dehydrated and desperately looking for their mother. We don't know what happened to the mother. Maybe she got killed, or perhaps she decided to abandon the young.  Whatever happened, it was clear she was not nearby and I felt we had to do something for them. You can't just leave them there!
In a last resort, we called our vet, and asked them if we could bring them there, and take them out of their misery. They were very helpful and accepted them without any trouble. We left them there, and they told us that they would assess them, and decide then whether they would try to keep them alive, or do the humane thing and euthanize them.  They said they would let us know what they decided, so I'll keep you posted.
Raccoons can be a nuisance, but seeing two small babies is absolutely heartbreaking. They are very, very cute but also very helpless. And yes, I know I have a huge soft spot for animals in need. Nothing wrong with that!

As for a follow up on last week, especially with regards to our presentation: it got cancelled... The ADM received last-minute notice that he needed to be somewhere else, so unfortunately, we will have to postpone. I was quite disappointed, but there is nothing we can do, and we'll try to get him out there later this summer. And we didn't waste our time too much; we will be using an adapted version of the presentation for our neighbouring base commander next week. Can't hurt to recycle presentations :)
Work has been good, but it is also busy. The good thing, however, is that it is very diverse and exciting, and also rewarding. So all in all, I can only say that I love my job!

Friday came, and went...

Friday came much quicker than I had expected, and the week ended on a very good note. Why? Even though I came home late on Thursday, and managed to get about 6 hours of sleep, Friday turned into an extremely productive, successful and rewarding day. Time flies when there are lots of things to do with a tight deadline, and I love it!
The next few weeks will also be chaotically busy. I'll be at the PRF quite a bit; on average 2-3 days a week for the next few weeks, plus a tonne of meetings for the OWA. Both provincial, our chapter, and for the business development committee I lead. So no reason to sit still for too long!
In the meantime, we're also trying to get our garden in order, continue the fight against dandelions, and also enjoy it. The rainy weather has returned, but hopefully spring will return shortly. It was too nice to let go of already!
Besides our busy lives (Nolan is slightly less busy, but also has no problems keeping himself busy with work and the house), we also take time to do other things. We went to the NAC yesterday to say 'i think i can'. A dance performance by the Toronto Theatre for Young People. Very impressive! We also watched a movie last night, Zodiac. I hear you think: big deal. Well, actually it was. We realized it was the very first time we actually watched a movie since moving into this house... We normally watch shorter shows; especially I have a really hard time staying focused (or awake...) during movies. But this was an evening well spent!
In other news, we might be going to Salt Lake City this summer!! Well, it depends on whether Nolan gets approval to attend a conference. But if he does, our summer vacation destination has been decided!

Flying over Amerongen

This past Saturday we returned, once again, from the Netherlands. This time it was a trip that we had planned a long time ago. But the timing was well suited, since we had a chance to see everybody again, were able to witness the slow but steady improvement of my dad, and to meet my sister’s new boyfriend for the first time (approved!). The trip really felt like a vacation. Sure, we spent quite a bit of time around Amerongen, with my parents, but we also had lots of time and opportunities to do our own thing. We spent a day in Arnhem, had lunch with Anja and Susan, and absolutely enjoyed the wonderful weather: mid-twenties for the most part, lots of sun, and really no rain to speak of. So all in all a really good trip.

Saturday we flew back via Frankfurt, Germany. A bit of a detour, but Air Canada flies directly from Frankfurt to Ottawa, and it’s so nice to Ottawa, rather than Montreal. On our flight from Frankfurt we actually flew just a little south of Amerongen, but since had seats facing north, we could see Amerongen, the castle, the ‘Lonely Oak’, surrounding towns and the forest we had walked in many times during that week. Really cool to see! And what are the chances you fly over the area you just spent the last week! Ok, maybe not that impressive for some people, but I thought it was rather cool.

When we came home, the cats were completely relaxed and happy. I think we found the perfect cat sitter! Our neighbours kept an eye on the house, and their middle son looked after the cats, actually befriended them (which is not always easy to do with Murphy), and spent time with them while playing the Wii. When we asked if he would do it again, he said yes without any hesitation. It’s just really nice to see it worked out so well. Definitely one less thing to worry about.

When we returned we had to shift back to ‘spring that is about to come’; quite a change from the full blown summer feeling we had experienced the week before. However, slowly but surely spring is finding its way to our area as well. That is to say, the grass is getting greener, buds are about to burst and daffodils are popping up. If only the temperature would rise a bit, and perhaps the rain could hold of for a day or two? Is that really too much to ask for??

Our running mojo is gone, but we decided that now we’re back in Canada, we’ll get back at it. Although we won’t run the Ottawa half marathon, we will start training again, and aim for lots of trail running this summer. So May will be our ‘getting back to running and eating healthy’ month. Our vacation definitely made us fall off the wagon a bit, so many delicious foods, cheeses, and wine! Which we made sure we enjoyed…

This week, we also moved back to our totally refurbished office on Booth Street. I’m one of the lucky ones that got a cubicle with a window. That is the good news. The bad news is that is somewhat chilly here, so I might have to bring a sweater in next time…

Half marathon - Weather forecast...

Ok, it's only Thursday and the half marathon is not until Sunday. However, they currently predict between 10 and 15 cm of snow for Sunday. That is on top of the 10-15cm they are predicting for tomorrow. Maybe I should bring snow shoes instead of running shoes?! I am still anticipating that we are going, but I also know that safety for everything, so we'll keep our fingers crossed that the weather won't be playing too much havoc.  I personally think this race is jinxed...

Work has also picked up quite a bit in the last few days. Meetings, reports, Research Forests session next week, training, articles... Lots and lots to do. But it's fun, and I much prefer being busy over having 'to look for stuff'. I'll update after the half marathon for sure, but it might get quiet for a bit after that :)

Just a quick update on Murphy. Well, really not that much to update on. He is still madly in love with his humidifier girl-friend. Never knew that cats could be so passionate and romantic!

The treadmill

First the good news: Nolan and I have both pretty much recovered from our ‘colds’, or whatever it was we suffered from. I’m not sure what it was, perhaps a chest cold? It felt like constant pressure on my lungs and sometimes coughing. It was interesting when I went for a run Wednesday night. It felt quite good and the legs were fine. But I had to walk for half a minute halfway through, just because I couldn’t get enough air in! Luckily I was still able to run about 5 km.

So now the ‘bad’ news: the thought of running that half marathon in February is only slightly worrying me an awful lot… What was I thinking??!! But I decided to get back at it, starting today. So once I’m done writing, and Nolan is done on the treadmill, I’m planning on running an 8k. Sunday I’m supposed to run 16km. We’ll see how that goes, but I am not too worried. A week and a half of taking some time off is not the end of the world, right?

In general I feel more lethargic simply because I have not run or done anything in the last couple of weeks. It’s funny how much of an effect that has on your daily feeling.

Work is going really well, though. It is quite busy, but most of it is fun, and I’m involved with some interesting projects. One of which is the Petawawa Research Forest and the National Research Forests in general. We also have a seminar next week on enhanced forest inventory, which I am also looking forward to. Always so much to learn. So yes, in general it’s all really good!

We passed the cold snap from last week. Sunday morning it was -39 with the windchill, and I didn’t even feel guilty for not going running. For me running is about having fun, and running in -39 weather does not qualify of having fun in my vocabulary.

Nolan is also doing well. He’s enjoying his new position and likes the group and his work. He’s also trying to get back into the running groove, but we both signed up for the half marathon in Ottawa, the last weekend of May, so we have something to train for again.

Well, he’s done on the treadmill, so my turn J

Sick...

It happened. It finally did. I am sick.

It’s the first time that Nolan has seen me sick, so I guess on average I’m not sick very often. I’ve tried to fight it all week, but Thursday night I couldn’t pretend anymore. I was coughing the lunges out of my body, and let me tell you, it did not feel good. At first I thought I would be ok, and could make it to the CIF meeting on Friday, but that was a little too optimistic. I’m feeling better now, although a grocery run this morning tired me out some. But it was worth it, now we have a fridge stocked with fresh veggies and fruit again. And OJ to make sure we quadruple our Vitamin C intake

We’re in the midst of a, somewhat minor, cold snap. It was -23 this morning, and tomorrow we’re supposedly getting a high of -22. Crisp for sure! I’m not sure if I feel like running tomorrow, but if so, I might chicken out and hit the treadmill. Although, it is beautiful right now (or so it looks…), clear blue skies, lots of sun and white snow. But oh so deceiving when you step out of the door.

With my cold, or whatever it is, my running is definitely suffering, unfortunately. But I decided to just take it easy and feel better, before I really get back at it again. The half marathon is in 5 weeks, so I don’t have a lot of time, but as long as I can get some long runs in, I’ll be fine.

Work is definitely picking up as well. We have a lot of activities coming up in the near future, together with (year-end) deadlines, which makes for interesting times! But it’s all fun, so that’s good.

When we were in the Netherlands last year, Anne Mieke and Hugo gave us a painting of Rome, which my mom actually brought to Canada in October. We finally got around to get it framed, and we are vert happy with the result. It looks beautiful, both the painting and the frame. Look for yourself!

Below some photos of Murphy. For some reason he always manages to look cute. Next time I’ll try to snap some photos of Fertile as well, she can be cute as well J

Edmonton

This morning I travelled to Edmonton, to attend our anual FPInnovations Wood Fibre Forum. This year I'll be extra busy, since I've been involved with the organisation and logistics. Needless to say that I will be very happy when it's Friday... But so far it's been great. I've been able to catch up with some of my colleagues I hadn't seen in a year (since last year's forum...).
Edmonton right now is very, very cold... It was -24 when we got in this morning, and they may have made it up to -18, but that was pushing it. Tonight will be cold as well, close to -30, so nice and frisk before our field tour tomorrow! Should be fun.
I'll give an update later this week. Right now all I want to do is sleep!

Petawawa

I think I can say that Tuesday was the highlight of my week: I actually got to spend a day in the field! Together with some of my colleagues, we looked at a long-term research site, as well as several new research sites for a potential biomass trial. The weather was fantastic, the company was great, and the fresh air was, well, refreshing! The timing was great, since it poured all day on Wednesday, which was when we were stuck inside all day for meetings. Tiring, but still fruitful. Today will be my last day in Petawawa and at the PRF, and we'll host the Management Advisory Committee, for a meeting to update them on the progress on our strategic and management plans. I'll be presenting a part as well, so we'll see how that goes!

Tonight I'll be sleeping in my own bed, and then tomorrow a day in the office to do some last minute preparations for our upcoming forum next week. I just checked the weather forecast and it looks like it might be a good idea to dig out my long john's, especially for the field day on Tuesday. Snow and -15. Great!

Some days...

No, MOST days I really like my job!  It's busy, especially this time of year, but I like that and it keeps me focused. My job is interesting, dynamic, at times challenging and frustrating. But it can also be very rewarding! I am in a position where I meet a lot of people, which really helps me build my network, but also produces some very valuable friendships. Some days are long, but today my supervisor gave me a really nice compliment, which meant a lot. It's nice to realize that people sincerely appreciate what you do.
So what do I do? Officially I'm a Knowledge Exchange Specialist, which, of course, can mean anything. I work closely with a lot of our researchers and technical staff, as well as other extension people from the CWFC, CFS, industry and other partners. Among other things, I try to connect people and make sure they know from each other what they are doing. Since I'm in Ottawa, I'm quite lucky that I work on both a national level but am more deeply involved with some of the developments specifically happening in Ontario. I'm quite actively involved with the Ontario Woodlot Association on a volunteer basis, but it helps enormously with my day-to-day job. I guess I'm extremely lucky that I get to work on things that I also like doing in my spare time.
But extension work is only part of my job; I'm also involved with the forest management plan for one of Canada's National Research Forests. People that know me probably understand how passionate I am about this research forest, and how thankful I am that I have a chance to work with both the people and the forest there. It also gives me a chance to spend some time in the bush now and then!

That is something that we also try to do outside of work. As I've probably mentioned at least a dozen times before, we love the trails in our area, and try to enjoy them as much as we can. Last night we went for a nice 10km run, for the most part on the trails as well.  Good thing that Nolan likes that too, although he did complain last night that I sped up too much: 'As soon as we hit the trails, you seem to unleash!'  Not sure if that is a compliment or not ;-)

Next time, I should take some time to write about Halloween, which seems to have taken a whole new level in our neighbourhood. Yes, I'll add photos!