End of January no snow blues

Weather

What a strange time it has been with the weather. We have had nothing but warm weather and the snow pack is almost non-existent and that is saying a lot for Deka which seems to have it's own little climate. There must only be about 8-10 inches on the property with a lot of areas under the trees with nothing...heavens, I see grass! Now that we're more than halfway through winter, it seems less daunting than my first winter here. But, as I keep repeating, you never know when the other shoe will drop!

There have been a few wind storms that have passed through; you can hear the trees cracking and falling. It would be great to see the trees behind us~~about 40 dead pines~~removed by the neighbours. They are a risk in the winds and with the hot summer fire season. Hopefully, the owners will remove them this year.

We also had some wonderful misty mornings that make the lake area so very beautiful in winter.

Op

Quickly get it out of the way: op failed, next op needed in Vancouver so trip to the Coast to meet and greet then three more months til next op. Ask me how excited I am.

But good things come out of this: a lovely trip to see the daughter and stay in Vic for a week. So many things to do....golf, see friends, lunch at Azumi Sushi, the Village, Library walkthrough to hug many people, stay with J2, oh, so much to do. By the way, I don't golf...the other guy does and is looking forward to golfing with good friends.


Christmas

....was wonderful.

Before Christmas we received two care packages to die for; both from the dearest of friends and so very well received. From baked goods to gift cards at the Moose, to ornaments, to well~~liquor!, matrushkas, balsamic vinegar and the list goes on. It was so welcome during the convalescent time. What absolute fun. Might have cried just a little. Maybe.


This year J2 did most of my gift shopping down in Vic and brought them up with her. It made my life so much easier; and with the stupid op healing/not healing I couldn't cook or bake. So J2 offered to bake when here and to do the Christmas feast. Uh huh.

J2's trip up here was another nightmare journey. What is it with that girl? At least she made the decision to stay at the Aunt and Uncle's for a night and catch a bus that arrived when it was at least dusk. It was great for the Aunt to take her out for a Christmas Lights drive too. And the Uncle got to drive her to the early bus. Once on and moving in a very packed bus there was an announcement to say that the next stop had a lot of passengers and the driver wanted to pick them up so the "young" ones were asked to move out of their seats and sit on the floor so the older passengers coming on would have a seat!!! Then somewhere near Boston Bar a chartered bus met up with the Greyhound and took the extra passengers. Now is there something wrong with that??? Safety??? What was the driver thinking? Other young passengers said it happened often: overbooking and asking people to sit in the aisle. I just can't fathom it. Understandably, J2 wrote a letter of complaint. We'll see what happens.

Where was I? Right, food. So, J2 baked and learned all about the difference between icing sugar and flour. But, otherwise, the cookies were great. We cheated on tarts but cut out pretty toppings for them; and we made the immoral Chocolate Guinness Cake for Christmas Day dessert. I pointed and J2 put it all together; this recipe is so easy and so sinful...you must try it for any reason you can think of. I used Chocolate Stout this time and not Guinness. The dinners, baking and my sanity could not have happened without J2 and Bill. Oh, and the grandson dried the dishes. And J1 ate the food supplied. He's my guy.

We also made a trip up to a friend's property to cut our Christmas tree. Grandson came with us and we chose what is probably the most interesting tree we've ever had. But after J2 decorated the tree it was beautiful. I received a package in the mail from the Lindsniuks and it contained two beautiful ornaments that I will treasure forever!

Walks at sunset, lake side stops, choosing the right tree, being a kid again in the snow, enjoying her nephew....it was great to see J2.

It was the first Christmas with just J1 and our grandson. So many things change but it was a great Christmas morning for everyone. From pellet guns to fancy gumboots to liquor to mama's new camera! It was a wonderful day. Love my family.

We made plans to travel to the Coast to my sister's and spend a few days with them. So we loaded up and left on a brilliant Boxing Day morning. The weather along the way was so fantastic! From ice fog to brilliant sunshine to coast fog. We also thought it would help with J2 saving her yet another horrendous ride on the now infamous Greyhound. I don't know if we'll ever get her on another bus again. Once in Vancouver we just had such a great time. Food, wine, cranberry gin, food, great company, shopping, you name it. Wonder-ful. And J2 made it home to Vic safely and with ease. Auntie and I drove her to the ferry and made sure all went well. Some sniffles. Then the Aunt and I went to Deas Park. Wow, loved it and then we drove to Finn's Slough as I wanted to take pics. Another stroll down memory lane in the Richmond environs....the dykes, mainly.


Work continues

We continue daily to add a little here, build a little there, sand and mud....my brother-in-law mentioned that more is done than is left to be done. Yes!

Bill is finishing the cabinets in the kitchen which look so stunning; I'm sanding slowly but diligently the dining area and kitchen. Then we can prime the little devils. After that I'm tackling the hall closet area and the washer/dryer 'room'. The big guy has done all and I mean ALL the window boxes (19) and all the trim for the windows and doors!!! That was a huge job. I can't believe how fast he did it. It's all in temp because we need to stain but we've put up the venetians in the bedroom and the bathroom. The hall venetians go up this weekend. The blinds make it all so 'finished'. The living room windows have two heavy linen curtains on them now; they only cover two of the windows but that works out well as I get very claustrophobic if all the windows are covered. I have to say that the bedroom is my very favourite room! Bill might start the bedroom closet. He's also completed the hall Linen closet...love the doors! He can't wait for warmer weather when he can put his tools out permanently and we can also finish his study/2nd bedroom. And then there is still the promise of the deck....but money does slip through the fingers so we shall see. The most expensive part is the d*** digging of the trench (4 feet down) and putting in the footings and sono tubes...such heavy duty work. The deck on its own is nothing.

It does get a little frustrating dealing with the local suppliers. They are all very helpful but it's the selection and the waiting that gets a little tedious. So it does work out that we are going to the Coast so we can pick up supplies that we can't get here. Right now the big item is deciding on stain colours for the trim and floor; there are too many choices!

Ravens

I love Ravens and I love the pics I finally got of them at the Deka Lake Mall.

I lose myself in lonely places
On heathered moor and bracken fell
And with the wind hold conversation
It always has so much to tell
And should you ask am I at ease there
I'd answer yes oh yes indeed
For I'll always need these lonely places
Where springs leap down where ravens feed

Martyn Wyndham Read/with thanks to Jim Stewart of NB

DVD: Julie and Julia
Dinner: Leftovers (Jaye's dynamite Chicken Fajitas)
Listening to Glenn Miller on Grooveshark (what a blessing to be directed to this wonderful online music collection~~thanks again, Bing-ster)