Wacky Weather

This week has been an interesting weather week. First we had about a foot of heavy wet snow, which gradually changed over to rain, making driving an absolute pleasure. Then in rained and rained. Everything turned slushy....and the snow that didn't look slushy was snow with 4 inches of water underneath. Awesome!!! The rain with the help of the plows cleared the snow off the roads and we had a whole day of clear roads before it started to snow again. I have to add that this is an unusual weather pattern for this time of year.

The kids enjoyed the snow and took the opportunity to bury each other. This was pre wet/rainy snow otherwise they may have drowned.

We had a visitor for a few days....Steve. Steve the spider. Steve came to us on a head of romaine lettuce. I was a bit surprised to find him/her on the counter as I was preparing salad for dinner. Steve was substantial enough, colorful enough and the weather was bad enough that I had no option but to capture him and keep him in a plastic container until the weather changed. We had a +7 day so Julian and I released him/her under the trailer.

Research on some spider identification websites indicate that Steve is a Red-backed jumping spider. Actually according to our research Steve is actually a female due to the black stripe on her abdomen. So we've renamed her Stevie. Stevie nicks so be careful.

The house project is coming along. The insulation is in the walls the vapor barrier should be done tomorrow, unless it is sunny and the weather man is calling for sun. Then we may switch gears and work on soffits and finish the vapor barrier on the weekend. Next week we should be starting to board. Yippee. It is only one month until Christmas our estimated date of completion........

I think if we take out time and finish......which would be a switch from out other houses, we will not be in by Christmas. We have some kitchen ideas such as concrete countertops that will take some time. I'm all for taking our time and getting it done the way we want. We really have no deadline so why push it. We also have to sand and finish all our flooring as we are putting in roughsawn fir from a local mill.  Oooh... finishing, now I'm starting to get excited.

  Insulation delivery

The kids have had their school assessments and all seem to be doing well in their new environments. The BC teachers are in strike mode and only performing essential services which do not include formal report cards. I think being in a small rural school we are very lucky as school hasn't changed much even though there is a strike of sorts.The kids got written pages generalizing their progress and they are doing well as always. I asked one of Niks friends if she thought school was any different this year. She has been going to that school for a number of years. She said that the teachers really care about the students and she doesn't sense a difference. There are some changes, the teachers aren't supposed to engage in extracurricular activities outside of school hours. Niks band usually attends a Jazz festival in February that may be cancelled. I know that the band teacher is as, if not more disappointed than the kids.

Aside from helping at the house I have been busy at the school this week. The Ski hill folks came to give their safety talk and fit the kids for rentals so I helped out with that.Ii did my first hot lunch. Every Wednesday volunteer parents make a hot lunch for the school. I helped to make 95 grill cheese sandwiches and soup. Lots of fun.

Terr and I have been helping out with a renovation at the Threads Guild. We are helping to upgrade the washroom to have wheelchair access.

Well I hope everyone has had a great fall and you are all ready for winter. Stay warm and keep well.

Winter Wonderland

You know how people from many different climes will say regarding the weather...if you don't like it just wait 20 minutes it will change. I know I heard it in Manitoba and it definitely holds true in the mountains.

 

 (our road - Hoodikoff) Yesterday

Today

Last night we got about 10 cm of glorious white snow. Its actually not so bad since it was sunny and plus 3 today. The kids were excited and they hauled out the crazy carpets at the school for sliding at recess.

I drove in the "storm" last night as I went to the Threads Guild to Gab and Jab. We made Pine needle wreaths. Not sure it was worth the frightening drive but I survived. And I have a pine needle wreath to show for it........well, almost.....

I still have to stitch my 14 feet!! of braided pine needles to the wreath form. The threads Guild is an awesome group of ladies who meet regularly to share ideas and projects, mostly fabric related, but pine needles and basket weaving are also a highly coveted skill to have and share.

Today we passed our framing inspection (yippee) and now we can insulate and drywall. Yesterday we were still working on siding but due to the snow it may have to take a back seat for a while. I'm sure this snow is not completely here to stay. There is rain in the forecast for later in the week. 

It sure is beautiful for now.

The School has a downhill ski program during January. The kids go skiing for six consecutive Fridays. They bus there in the morning and are home by the end of the school day. They are looking forward to that, as is Terry who has a sudden urge to be a parent volunteer, first time in ten years.

Tomorrow is a town day. Its interesting actually, because I (and I think I can speak for Terr as well in this regard) I have no great desire to go. We need to pick up some essentials and also some building supplies, so it is a necessary trip, but I think as the magic of the Slocan Valley takes hold, town trips become further and farther between. 

I believe as time goes by we will source our needs from the valley and the trips to Nelson will become even more infrequent. Today we found out that friends of ours are getting laying hens come spring so we will get eggs from them. One necessity we need to pick up tomorrow...guitar strings. Nik has destrung (not sure if that's a word) three guitars. His playing seems to have reached another level. He is taking lessons again and it is interesting watching him become excited as he learns new things.

Happy snow dog

Off to school.

Julian has signed up as an Earth Ranger and is funraising to Bring Back the Wild. This was totally his own initiative. Here is a link to Save the Woodland Caribou at JULIANS page. Close the donation page to see his  progress so far.

Well that's it for now. Have a great day and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Monday, Monday........

Today was the last day of a four day weekend for the school children in our school district. Shasta spent the day earning her babysitter certificate. They covered an assortment of health, safety and first aid, as well as some general childcare techniques.  Nik spent the day with his new BFF Eryn, who happens to be a she hmmmmm.  Not sure if I'm ready for this.
Julian spent most of his day missing his sister.

So, Julian and I made some creamy cauliflower and blue potato soup. We also decided to try to use up some of our abundant supply of local apples so we made an apple blackberry crisp. The aroma is beginning to fill the kitchen as I sit here. Yum!

Oh yes, did I mention I have been knitting hats. Julian is sporting one of the five I have knit since I learned to knit in the round two weeks ago. Knitting is filling the need I have to create whilst time and space are limited.

Babysitter extraordinaire

Hmmmm...not sure about this blog thing. I guess i should wait til I have something interesting to post. 

Catcha later.

Hello
I have been planning on getting together some sort of email newsletter, pictures etc. to send out to family and friends for a couple of months now. As you know it hasn't happened. My apologies to all who haven't heard from us since we left the sunny province of  Manitoba. Instead I will attempt to start and update a blog, perhaps even weekly..........

First let me start by thanking everyone who helped us out with the beginning of this grand adventure.  We were kind of in a holding pattern after we put our house up for sale. Not really knowing when or if it would sell so unable to make decisions and move ahead in many ways, yet at the same time tied to the process with showings and keeping the place clean, tidy and ready to show at a moments notice.  Let it be known though that the family who did buy the house were the ones who showed up one afternoon unannounced and we let them in to our, at the time messy, dishes in the sink, chaos. So Thank You to all of you who came and packed and cleaned and bought our garage sale items and just hung out and hugged us all goodbye. We couldn't have done it without you.  And we couldn't have possibly made it to say goodbye to all of you as much as we would have like to.

So.....now here we are.

Settlin' in to the lovely Slocan Valley.  We had an amazingly hot end of August and well into September as Bro-in-law Murray can attest to.  Murray was our first visitor. He helped us find the local swimming holes in the refreshing Slocan river.

This is the river but not a swimming spot. There are many spots along the river with sandy silty banks and beaches. Even a few spots with sand bars you can swim out to. This spot has a structure (logs) to make hidey holes for fish. The local river conservation groups are trying to increase the trout numbers in the river and have been quite successful to date.

The kids are all settled into school. It was a bit of a decision as the schooling options here are plentiful and varied. We decided to first try out the local public school as we had heard great things from the locals. The kids are enjoying it there. I am a PAC member and have been getting to know the staff and many involved parents. Nik is at a high school down the valley. He is enjoying himself there, has quickly made friends and is involved in the excellent music program.

 Winlaw Elementary School yard

The end of October brought us Halloween which is quite the community event. We attended two large bonfires and fireworks displays. One on the weekend at the community hall and one in Slocan City (not really a city but a small village) on Halloween eve. The kids had a lot of fun.

Now it is November.....we have just got winter tires on the car in the nick of time. The snow is on the mountains and has reached down a few times to let us know that winter is on its way. You can actually be fined for not having tires on your car after October 1st bearing this symbol. Not sure how well enforced that is.

The house is coming along. We finally have hydro, the plumbing has passed inspection, the heating system is almost ready, the wiring is halfway done. Soon we will be ready for insulation.

On the sunny warm days we switch gears and work on the exterior siding. We have opted this time around for cement/fiber board siding. Most people around here side with wood. We decide to try this product as there is no maintenance. Our house is going to be Countrylane Red.

I'm not sure when the house will be ready to live in. The original plan was Christmas.....not sure how on schedule we are...I'm sure Terr has a better idea. But some of the work to come will depend on other peoples schedules as well....drywallers and insulators.

Well that's a generalized update. In our weekly updates we should be able to get more personal and immediate.

Peace and Blessings.