Check out our Christmas extravaganza below!
We are off to Big White for Christmas with our Kiwi friends so we will return pickled and skied out on the 27th and then we have the whole week off to catch up on all the adventures...including Shaun's moment of TV stardom....hah! that's going to get you loggin' back in to the bloggin'....just got to persuade the local network to release the incriminating evidence!
big hugs to all,
C & S
woof from Ots too!
He's happy...he doesn't know about the kennel over Christmas.....gulp! Although being Canadian they can't call it a "Gulag for Owners who Love their Pets but Not As Much As 150cm of the White Stuff/Hiking in Revelstoke/3 day Winery Tour', oh no, they call it a Bone and Biscuit....B&B.... cute....but its not making the guilt trip any easier!
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Opening weekend at Silver Star
Well the lure of the white stuff was too much to resist and we thought we would brave the crowds and head up to Silver Star on Sunday. We got there and the car park was full to bursting and over eager Aussies were trying to squeeze the last Ford 150 in to a space the size of a Smart car on a diet.
We decided to park in our favourite car park which is a little way from the village but you can ski directly from your car door....there were 4 cars in the car park...things were looking up...
...things got even better when we got on the piste and there was over a metre of snow, slightly sticky in places but it was just over 1C - so springlike without too many rocks! And then the freaky space time continuum which is Silver Star managed to take all the people which MUST have been in those cars and send them into an alternate skiing dimension because for the the first 4 runs we must have seen 10 people and 6 of those were lifties! The snow was amazing (apparently Saturday was THE day with 40cm of powder on top of the base but Mr R was fire training...grrrr!) - still, pretty fab all the same and there was powder between the trees and you had that icing sugar feel on the runs! Oh and still no people! Yay!!
Mr R did managed to break one of his bindings- 'they're not supposed to break there' was the comment from the ski technican as he merrily sold us another pair of bindings for $200! I would love to tell you it was an amazing crash involving a tree, a snowboarder and a rather surprised marmot but it was more of a 'oops...hey my bindings detached from my left ski...that's odd' kind of moment...on the plus side no injuries!
Our eagle eyed Kiwi friend, Kelly, spotted us in the village, well spotted the giant which is Mr R in ski boots and helmet, so we stopped for a hot chocolate and then skied in the afternoon with Rowan, her boyfriend who is a fab skier so the thighs were well and truly burning before ended the day at 3ish....
We are spending Christmas with Rowan and Kelly, plus 2 friends of theirs who are coming over from New Zealand. They gave us the lowdown on the plans, which seem to mainly revolve around how much alcohol they could get in their truck...umm..think we need to get the livers into training let alone the thighs!
Forgot to mention the extra bonus in that we have no snow in the valley, just piles of it on the mountains, so it was only 40 mins from our front door to putting on the skis.......we like Canada!
Going to do it all again next weekend....! More yay!
Well I might...Mr R has the Fire Department Christmas Party on Saturday...apparently it can get pretty messy....I might be typing the next blog VERY quietly....! :)
We decided to park in our favourite car park which is a little way from the village but you can ski directly from your car door....there were 4 cars in the car park...things were looking up...
...things got even better when we got on the piste and there was over a metre of snow, slightly sticky in places but it was just over 1C - so springlike without too many rocks! And then the freaky space time continuum which is Silver Star managed to take all the people which MUST have been in those cars and send them into an alternate skiing dimension because for the the first 4 runs we must have seen 10 people and 6 of those were lifties! The snow was amazing (apparently Saturday was THE day with 40cm of powder on top of the base but Mr R was fire training...grrrr!) - still, pretty fab all the same and there was powder between the trees and you had that icing sugar feel on the runs! Oh and still no people! Yay!!
Mr R did managed to break one of his bindings- 'they're not supposed to break there' was the comment from the ski technican as he merrily sold us another pair of bindings for $200! I would love to tell you it was an amazing crash involving a tree, a snowboarder and a rather surprised marmot but it was more of a 'oops...hey my bindings detached from my left ski...that's odd' kind of moment...on the plus side no injuries!
Our eagle eyed Kiwi friend, Kelly, spotted us in the village, well spotted the giant which is Mr R in ski boots and helmet, so we stopped for a hot chocolate and then skied in the afternoon with Rowan, her boyfriend who is a fab skier so the thighs were well and truly burning before ended the day at 3ish....
We are spending Christmas with Rowan and Kelly, plus 2 friends of theirs who are coming over from New Zealand. They gave us the lowdown on the plans, which seem to mainly revolve around how much alcohol they could get in their truck...umm..think we need to get the livers into training let alone the thighs!
Forgot to mention the extra bonus in that we have no snow in the valley, just piles of it on the mountains, so it was only 40 mins from our front door to putting on the skis.......we like Canada!
Going to do it all again next weekend....! More yay!
Well I might...Mr R has the Fire Department Christmas Party on Saturday...apparently it can get pretty messy....I might be typing the next blog VERY quietly....! :)
Sunday, 15 November 2009
Paramedic training
Mr R is off for 2 weeks paramedic training in Kelowna on Monday - the course is very difficult and the books are even thicker than the fireman's course!
On the plus side, it will be good for the farm to have someone trained to his level, and it might make the fire brigade course a bit shorter as it is of a higher level than the one they require...but the really good news that if Mr R passes then he will be able to volunteer as a ski patroller next year at Silver Star for a couple of days a week and get a free lift pass, and on his second year I get a free pass too!
On the plus side, it will be good for the farm to have someone trained to his level, and it might make the fire brigade course a bit shorter as it is of a higher level than the one they require...but the really good news that if Mr R passes then he will be able to volunteer as a ski patroller next year at Silver Star for a couple of days a week and get a free lift pass, and on his second year I get a free pass too!
It's snowing!
We have snow on the mountians for the past couple of weeks, but on Friday we had the first light dusting of snow in the Valley.
Our season passes have arrived, the snow tyres are on the ML and Big White opened this weekend and Silver Star will open on 28th November.
Cue the relentless Christmas music and loads of decorations - yay! (not yay from Mr R...bah humbug!)
Our season passes have arrived, the snow tyres are on the ML and Big White opened this weekend and Silver Star will open on 28th November.
Cue the relentless Christmas music and loads of decorations - yay! (not yay from Mr R...bah humbug!)
Halloween
Yep, 31st October is big news in Canada! We have the pumpkins, the costumes, the sparkly orange lights, cobwebs for the spooky looking front garden and bus loads of trick or treaters....you think I am kidding with the bus loads? Nope! There are areas in Kelowna where parents drive their spookily clad offspring to due to the high quality of the treats!
We have a development called the Lakes in Winfield and it was lit up like Christmas with the number of cars going there. Fortunes are spent on mini-sized chocolates.
We didn't go with the pumpkin option but were prepared with the mini sized chocolates...unfortunately we only had 3 trick or treaters but they hit the jackpot and then we had to eat the rest ourselves...shame!
There was a fireworks dispay being organized in Winfield by the Fire Department with a bonfire, hot dogs and hot chocolate etc etc...and beer at the pub afterwards so we decided to join in the fun and dress up.
Shaun's outfit and ghoulish acting nearly scared the living daylights out of our trick or treaters
(hint: not good to nearly give the under 7's a heart attack!) and Otter was a bit freaked out too!
Unfortunately, his stroke of genius was slightly lost on the locals and Shaun of the Dead isn't out on DVD here yet!
I braved the night ala Catwoman....not quite sure Winfield is ready for this....but did
get the best costume vote in the pub!
And on the 1st November the Christmas lights were going up on the houses!
We have a development called the Lakes in Winfield and it was lit up like Christmas with the number of cars going there. Fortunes are spent on mini-sized chocolates.
We didn't go with the pumpkin option but were prepared with the mini sized chocolates...unfortunately we only had 3 trick or treaters but they hit the jackpot and then we had to eat the rest ourselves...shame!
There was a fireworks dispay being organized in Winfield by the Fire Department with a bonfire, hot dogs and hot chocolate etc etc...and beer at the pub afterwards so we decided to join in the fun and dress up.
Shaun's outfit and ghoulish acting nearly scared the living daylights out of our trick or treaters
(hint: not good to nearly give the under 7's a heart attack!) and Otter was a bit freaked out too!
Unfortunately, his stroke of genius was slightly lost on the locals and Shaun of the Dead isn't out on DVD here yet!
I braved the night ala Catwoman....not quite sure Winfield is ready for this....but did
get the best costume vote in the pub!And on the 1st November the Christmas lights were going up on the houses!
Revelstoke Boosts the Critter Count
More from the summer, the weather for Simon and Tess's visit improved dramatically towards the middle of their stay and we had blue skies and 30C...so we decided that after a few good meals that more hiking was in order so took the guys off to Revelstoke which is about a 3 hours drive north east of us.
Revelstoke is on the main highway towards Alberta and Calgary and this was pretty much the last good weather hiking weekend of the summer and we were expecting the road to be busy....but we are in Canada, in the Okanagan and they just don't do busy, well by UK standards, so we had traffic like the middle of Lyndhurst at 3am....i.e. none...!
So cracking drive through the Spallumcheen valley, past Armstrong (more on this town when the CD arrives from the UK!) and through Sicamous which is the House Boat Captial (with capital letters) of the Shuswap before turning east to the Columbia Mountains and Revelstoke.
The aim was to arrive early evening, hike to the mountain lakes the following day and see how the legs were for the day after.
We booked a great little cabin about 20mins outside Revelstoke, however pictures
que as it was their website did neglect to mention than Canadian National Railway ran alongside the opposite shore of lake and the freight trains were no respecter of a) weekends and b) litttle numbers followed by the letters AM!
And these trains were long - 50 freight trucks minimum!
Smarticus, you would have LOVED it!
The next day we heading up to Revelstoke National Park - very sensibly ther
e is a road to the top on Revelstoke Mountain and from there you can hike to Eva Lake which was the aim for the day. Apparently, and this is according to the guidebook, you can hike to the top of Revelstoke Mountain instead of driving but its not worth it as it is mostly in the trees and you get no views whatsoever...honest!
We had seen Eva Lake on a documentary months ago and it looked amazing and it was on our Top 10 list to do so it was great to do it with friends - although normally there are 6 of us on these hikes, but the Smarts were not with us - however due to a flash of
inspiration by Miss T we did manage to evoke their participation through the medium of sugar coated chocolate and extra vowels.... I present The Smarties...
The hike was about 5 hours in total and was an amazing mixture of
Alpine meadows, rock scrambles, trails and waterfalls.
The start of the hike was slightly marred by my over eagerness to read absolutely every notice and information guide as one pointed out in rather big letters than there are over 18,000 grizzly bears in BC at the last estimate and that over 6,000 lived in Revelstoke National Park. Note: BC is FOUR times the size of the UK.... Revelstoke National Park?...ummm not so big....likelihood of meeting a grizzly: HIGH..... likelihood of wanting to meet a grizzly: LOW (unless you are Mr R!).
At this point we started moving all the tuna and sweetcorn sandwiches in
to Mr R's backpack!
Level of luck on this visit: extremely High - no grizzlies encountered! yay! Especially as a bear bell would be more like an invitation to lunch than a deterrant! What we did spot was a sunbathing marmot on the way back from Eva Lake.
Eva Lake was amazing, it sits right on the edge of the mounta
in, kind of like Mother Nature's own infinity pool, and looks incredibly inviting after a long hike, however it 
is FREEZING, and we didn't have our swimming togs (pity!).
You can also hike onto Jade Lake
however this involves and almost vertical climb of 700 metres, then the same downhill and then you have to repeat to get out...so we decided to skip that one! And good job we did to as it gave us the time 
to go to Miller Lake which for some really bizarre reason is overlooked by all the guidebooks however we all thought that it was more beautiful than Eva!
We rounded the day off with amazing BBQ back at the cabin,
expertly cooked by the chaps and very Canadian with wieners and salmon!
Revelstoke is on the main highway towards Alberta and Calgary and this was pretty much the last good weather hiking weekend of the summer and we were expecting the road to be busy....but we are in Canada, in the Okanagan and they just don't do busy, well by UK standards, so we had traffic like the middle of Lyndhurst at 3am....i.e. none...!
So cracking drive through the Spallumcheen valley, past Armstrong (more on this town when the CD arrives from the UK!) and through Sicamous which is the House Boat Captial (with capital letters) of the Shuswap before turning east to the Columbia Mountains and Revelstoke.
The aim was to arrive early evening, hike to the mountain lakes the following day and see how the legs were for the day after.
We booked a great little cabin about 20mins outside Revelstoke, however pictures
que as it was their website did neglect to mention than Canadian National Railway ran alongside the opposite shore of lake and the freight trains were no respecter of a) weekends and b) litttle numbers followed by the letters AM!
And these trains were long - 50 freight trucks minimum!
Smarticus, you would have LOVED it!
The next day we heading up to Revelstoke National Park - very sensibly ther
e is a road to the top on Revelstoke Mountain and from there you can hike to Eva Lake which was the aim for the day. Apparently, and this is according to the guidebook, you can hike to the top of Revelstoke Mountain instead of driving but its not worth it as it is mostly in the trees and you get no views whatsoever...honest!We had seen Eva Lake on a documentary months ago and it looked amazing and it was on our Top 10 list to do so it was great to do it with friends - although normally there are 6 of us on these hikes, but the Smarts were not with us - however due to a flash of
inspiration by Miss T we did manage to evoke their participation through the medium of sugar coated chocolate and extra vowels.... I present The Smarties...The hike was about 5 hours in total and was an amazing mixture of
Alpine meadows, rock scrambles, trails and waterfalls.The start of the hike was slightly marred by my over eagerness to read absolutely every notice and information guide as one pointed out in rather big letters than there are over 18,000 grizzly bears in BC at the last estimate and that over 6,000 lived in Revelstoke National Park. Note: BC is FOUR times the size of the UK.... Revelstoke National Park?...ummm not so big....likelihood of meeting a grizzly: HIGH..... likelihood of wanting to meet a grizzly: LOW (unless you are Mr R!).
At this point we started moving all the tuna and sweetcorn sandwiches in
to Mr R's backpack!Level of luck on this visit: extremely High - no grizzlies encountered! yay! Especially as a bear bell would be more like an invitation to lunch than a deterrant! What we did spot was a sunbathing marmot on the way back from Eva Lake.
Eva Lake was amazing, it sits right on the edge of the mounta
in, kind of like Mother Nature's own infinity pool, and looks incredibly inviting after a long hike, however it 
is FREEZING, and we didn't have our swimming togs (pity!).You can also hike onto Jade Lake
however this involves and almost vertical climb of 700 metres, then the same downhill and then you have to repeat to get out...so we decided to skip that one! And good job we did to as it gave us the time 
to go to Miller Lake which for some really bizarre reason is overlooked by all the guidebooks however we all thought that it was more beautiful than Eva!We rounded the day off with amazing BBQ back at the cabin,
expertly cooked by the chaps and very Canadian with wieners and salmon!
Bears!
Back in the summer (you can tell its a bit chilly over here and an afternoon catching up on the blog has proved much more appealling than helping Mr R rearrange the garage!)...anyhoo.. back in the summer top chums Simon and Tess journeyed across the pond for some hiking, wine tasting, food and general all round good times!
Have spent most of the summer jabbering on about how fantastic the weather is here of course it rained for the few first few days and we had unseasonable cold temperatures - it was a bank holiday weekend so it was a very British welcome :) !
Being chilly we very logically took them up Silver Star Mountain in 8C - sorry guys! But on the plus side we did get to see our very first bears! They post any bear sightings on the board as you enter the trails but we had been there before and not seen a sausage (which was okay by me!) but this time we met a few people coming down the trail who flagged up to us that there were definately a mum and cubs in the area (very Canadian - not letting you walking to the jaws of a pissed off mummy bear without warning!).
We turned a couple of corners and eagle eyed Mr R spotted a older cub off the side of the trail and then further on we saw the mum and the younger cub - sooo cute and just far away enough to be on the non-knee trembling side of scary!
This the photo - sorry, crap camera and then battery ran out- but there is a bear in it, honest!
Yay! Bears!....and they didn't eat us...result!
Fireman Shaun!
Since September Mr R has been training as a volunteer fireman for the Lake Country Fire Department and will be on-call for our local station at Carr's Landing and we thought it was about time we showed him and the chaps in action!
The training is pretty major, every other Saturday (8am to 6pm) and every Monday and Wednesday night from 6 to 9pm...or 11 if it is Wednesday Wings down the pub!
Having just lost him to the cherries of most of the summer I was slightly less than enthusaistic but am clinging to the promise of a fireman's uniform in the wardrobe by December!!!
They have a mixture of theory (lots of very heavy, very long books) and practical - the practical seems to be rating much higher on the fun scale than the written exams - what a surprise!
Over the last months they have been through a smoke room, crawled down tunnels, had to sit in full gear in temperatures which would roast a potato in seconds, put out car fires, gas fires, house fires and cats on fire (okay not the last one but only because they couldn't catch one first!) and taken cars apart with the Jaws of Life to save Rescue Randy, the 200lb 'citizen'.
As Dad pointed out this morning , perhaps I should be getting concerned about the amount of time Mr R is spending with an inflatable doll....!
This weekend it was the taking cars apart session and the chaps kindly made Mr R a convertible - LCFD style!
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Monday, 21 September 2009
Social Media In 30 Seconds
Great slide for explaining social media - some discussion on whether RSS should be in there as a social media element or a tool to enable the dissemination of information through social media sites.
Social Media In 30 Seconds
View more presentations from Omniture.
Thursday, 17 September 2009
Mermaid
Just thought I would throw this into the mix as you are all probably bored of seeing photos of Mr R and me...
The Vancouver house sitting in the summer - with pool and resident mermaid....see...we lulled them into a false sense of security and then hit them with the cork flooring extravaganza!
Sorry G&T got waylaid by Bones (Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer as cute FBI detective with forensic anthropologist partner - now officially my third favourite job to do after astronaut and volcanologist....sorry and Operations Director at Twin Creek Media! Obviously...)
Mr R had finished the fancy new sink in the bathroom - all glass, including the taps and an funky pop up sink - I love Ebay! Unfortunately top half finished but bottom half still under construction so no running water yet...
Camera battery on recharge so photos (possibly even a vid-clip - yes it IS that fab!)
Mr R had finished the fancy new sink in the bathroom - all glass, including the taps and an funky pop up sink - I love Ebay! Unfortunately top half finished but bottom half still under construction so no running water yet...
Camera battery on recharge so photos (possibly even a vid-clip - yes it IS that fab!)
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Second most consistent activity of the summer
DIY, renovating call it what you will that was the other thing we spent the most time (and money!) on this summer...in fact most of Shaun's extra hours can been seen in the new kitchen, floor, bathroom etc etc.
Couldn't have done it without Mum and Dad, who although we lured them over here with promises of wine tours and lazy summer days by the lake, still managed to lay the ENTIRE front room and hall with cork tiles - a achievement in anyone's book but when the front room in question is 25 ft by 15ft and the hall 17ft long (yep, they build 'em big over here!), the chop saw chopped wonky and it was edging 40C at times it was stunning!
More of the adventures of M&D later (so we did let them out for a few days!) but just to give an update on the changes we have gone from:
a very pink and mint green hall
to a more open look with cork floors (thanks to hubby- labour of love that one!) and a fabulous light - am amazing gift from Rik and Janneke but was a labour of love to put up - 52C at the top of ceiling, balanced on a dodgy orchard ladder, light in one hand,
screwdriver in the other and the nails at the bottom of 
the ladder...the language was not pretty...but the results were!
A slightly pink lounge (are we sensing a theme?) & shag pile (otter is still pining over the pile - he LOVED it!)
To (more) cork floors and what we hope is a retro 70's feel without putting Shaun back in short shorts and me as a twinkle in Dad's eye!
The kitchen is still a work in progress as the kitchen company had a bit of an oops counting the number of doors versus the number of cabinets (the missing ones are coming tomorrow) and we still have to tile around the backsplash and put in a oven hood. More cork floors again courtesy of Mr
R (I did do the painting and the light fittings honest!)
Couldn't have done it without Mum and Dad, who although we lured them over here with promises of wine tours and lazy summer days by the lake, still managed to lay the ENTIRE front room and hall with cork tiles - a achievement in anyone's book but when the front room in question is 25 ft by 15ft and the hall 17ft long (yep, they build 'em big over here!), the chop saw chopped wonky and it was edging 40C at times it was stunning!
More of the adventures of M&D later (so we did let them out for a few days!) but just to give an update on the changes we have gone from:
a very pink and mint green hall
to a more open look with cork floors (thanks to hubby- labour of love that one!) and a fabulous light - am amazing gift from Rik and Janneke but was a labour of love to put up - 52C at the top of ceiling, balanced on a dodgy orchard ladder, light in one hand,
screwdriver in the other and the nails at the bottom of 
the ladder...the language was not pretty...but the results were!A slightly pink lounge (are we sensing a theme?) & shag pile (otter is still pining over the pile - he LOVED it!)
To (more) cork floors and what we hope is a retro 70's feel without putting Shaun back in short shorts and me as a twinkle in Dad's eye!
The kitchen is still a work in progress as the kitchen company had a bit of an oops counting the number of doors versus the number of cabinets (the missing ones are coming tomorrow) and we still have to tile around the backsplash and put in a oven hood. More cork floors again courtesy of Mr
R (I did do the painting and the light fittings honest!)
Uncle Shaun & the Cherry Farm
As this was the most consistent element of the summer I thought I would start with Shaun's job at the cherry orchard....
...so back in April he gets the job and things start to get busy with the installation of the new plant machinery and the completing the new building in May and June....then there is a slight pause at the beginning of July, well, we thought it was a pause, but really it was hell taking a deep breat
h before it let lose!
h before it let lose!In the space of a week or so the standard team of 40 odd was plumped to a stunning 350 odd collection of students, Mexicans, and Quebecois! Shaun's language skills have come on immensely and he can now say eh? in 4 different languages....(come to Canada and you'll get it!)
The reason for the loosing of hell - bumper, bumper cherry season and only 8 weeks to pick, wash, inspect and pack the little buggers before its over....all in about 12 hours!Obviously there are fringe benefits to being the wife of a cherry farm manager (as well as being able to watch Grey's Anatomy, ER and Bones back to back w
ith no interruptions as hubby works in the plant until 11pm - but more of that later!) - the first arrived in a small basket of beautiful juicy fruit, then we had a bucket, then 3 buckets and then bin bags full of the little darlings!
ith no interruptions as hubby works in the plant until 11pm - but more of that later!) - the first arrived in a small basket of beautiful juicy fruit, then we had a bucket, then 3 buckets and then bin bags full of the little darlings!Needless to say we are now well versed in the variatels of cherry and have been scouring the recipe books - still haven't got bored of them though! and the freezer (thank god for the second one in the basement - when we bought the house we though, doh! 2 freezers? - slightly revised that opinion now.
Discovered a cherry wine recipe in a book from Mum so off to buy the home brew equipment at the weekend to turn them into even more deliciousness, plus Tess came up with the scintillating idea of cherry vodka (ala sloe gin, before I get carted off for illegal hooch making!)
Anyhoo, Shaun has worked like a dog (not Otter, obviously, otherwise it would be a summer of ball, ball, nap, ball, ball eat , ball, ball, sleep, eek theres a deer in the garden, sleep, ball etc etc) all summer with one 145hr stint in 2 weeks with no time off.
But, amazingly, he smiled through it all and impressed the socks off everyone (go, hubby!). The season finished at the beginning of September and he had a week off and very well deserved gun purchase!
Back in Business!
Right....DIY/cherry/visitor frenzy is over!
Absolutely fantastic fun for the last 2 months but pretty crap for leaving time for blogging...
... but we have a moment of pause, downloaded all the photos from the camera and am sitting at the computer (new, very whizzy, oodles of hamsters doing their stuff) ...with the virtually obligatory gin and tonic ready to regale you with tales of ice cream, sunbathing marmots, irratating squirrels and BBQ's - the juxtaposition of those last 2 items was a coincidence, Shaun has not, I repeat not, gone red necked and starting grilling the local bushy tailed inhabitants....well not yet anyway....
For all those reading in the UK, Toronto and Vancouver I would like to say the summer was over but it not...as we hit 32C here....mmmm toasty....
so where do I start???
Absolutely fantastic fun for the last 2 months but pretty crap for leaving time for blogging...
... but we have a moment of pause, downloaded all the photos from the camera and am sitting at the computer (new, very whizzy, oodles of hamsters doing their stuff) ...with the virtually obligatory gin and tonic ready to regale you with tales of ice cream, sunbathing marmots, irratating squirrels and BBQ's - the juxtaposition of those last 2 items was a coincidence, Shaun has not, I repeat not, gone red necked and starting grilling the local bushy tailed inhabitants....well not yet anyway....
For all those reading in the UK, Toronto and Vancouver I would like to say the summer was over but it not...as we hit 32C here....mmmm toasty....
so where do I start???
Saturday, 1 August 2009
On agan, off again.... holy smokes!
Okay, so about 10 days ago the Terrace mountain fire was growing and looking pretty spectacular and grew to about 4,400 hectares in total.
Then the fire teams moved in in earnest as the Glenrosa fires where contained and by yesterday the fire was 90% contained (yay!).
But what a difference a day makes, out in the garden with a friend this morning and we noted that the plumes of smoke seemed to be a bit more energetic and determined (i know difficult to anthropromorphise smoke but we did it!)...
4pm - call from Shaun...get to the window, smoke getting bigger and nearer
6pm - went for a swim (lake like bath water!) - smoke bigger but no fire
8pm - Holy S****! The whole side of the mountain across the lake from us is in flame - apparently there are not many houses in this area but outside the picture to the right is La Casa holiday resort which was evacuated again (the poor chaps only got back in two days ago) and I expect they will have evacuated Fintry which is the next bay to the north as well.
We are safe on this side as the lake sits between us and the fire.
The sunbirds return to roost....
So, yesterday waved a somewhat tearful goodbye to M&D as they returned home after their mini-Canadian adventure involving DIY (lots of - leave a paint tin around and 30 secs later it would be on the wall - S&T take note..!), wine tasting (lots of as well but barely made a dent in the 160, yes that's 3 figures, no decimal point, 160 wineries in the valley) and a late addition to the programme, gourmet ice cream assessment, who knew there were so many establishments to try....well Mum did, well researched!
Will post more our findings later....
Will post more our findings later....
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Wednesday: Terrace goes Pompeii!
Wednesday: more good news on the West Kelowna fires which are now fully contained and they have let everyone go home, although they are still on evacuation alert.
However the fire across the lake as increased to 2500 hectares and they have evacuated the small number of folks who live in the hills about Fintry. Fintry (which is a lovely place - I think you can see the houses at the bottom of the lake if you enlarge the photos) is on evacuation alert and I can see why!
That glow at the top of the mountain isn't a beautiful sunset but the actual fire!
We are safe over this side but it is a bit like being in Pompeii but without the lava, pyroclastic flows and imminient death!
But the area is completely smoked up, ash has been falling and its was 39C outside - still M & D have done an absolutely cracking job on the DIY, the shag pile is fighting a losing battle and we now have a cork floor in the lounge and hall, a new kitchen wall, reset light switches and swish new silver doorknobs which match (something of a first for this place I think!) - suspect all will come rushing to a halt when they leave.....
....hmmmm need some more visitors......!
Terrace Mountain Fire: Tuesday
Tuesday: the fire across the lake and behind the mountain has grown to over 500 hectares.
House is a bit smoky so turning on the air con as its 25C+ a night and gentle humming is preferable to smelling like Bonfire Night.
Good news on the other two fires in West Kelowna which are nearly contained (but not out).
Scrumping....Canada style
Found this little critter in the front garden munching the apples. Luckily he had a modicum of self preservation and steered clear of the peach tree!
Monday, 20 July 2009
Fire at Terrace Mt.
The fire (Terrace Mountain) across the lake - no one in danger and I am pretty sure the critters got out okay....this grew to 500 hectares on Sunday but seems to be dying down (touch wood, fingers crossed) now.
Safe and sound...
Many thanks for all the emails and phone calls....we are safely out of harms way in Carr's Landing, in fact we were watching the Terrace Mountain fire from the balcony
Have some great photos but will have to wait for M&D to download them from their camera when they get home as they were quicker of the David Bailey mark than we were....must be one of the first time wine boxes have been known to IMPROVE reaction speeds!
Also, thanks for the all suggestions on fire starting - from Shaun's electrical work (definately possibility as he shot across the room at the weekend whilst rewiring the kitchen lights) to my cooking (hmmm....).
Still it has been a salutory lesson in to just how dry and hot it gets here...house now insured up to its armpits and we are off to buy a fireproof safe at the weekend.
But the organization here has been amazing - the 10,000+ people affected are about 40 mins to the south of us on the other side of the lake and all seemed to have been evacuted at about 3am and still remain positive. Help is pouring in and all the businesses in town are offering support. Plus given the size and scope of the fires the fact that only 3 houses have been lost is amazing and a testament to the fire crews - most of whom are volunteers.
A small fire started nearer Kelowna during the weekend and before it got to 70m wide 5 HUGE bombers flew over and saturated the whole area in red gloopy gell - no chance of that one springing up.
The winds have died down since the weekend when they were quite ferocious so they seem to be getting it under control and they have infra-red camera flights to spot any hotspots during the night to prevent it flaring up again.
We have BBC World and it is quite surreal to see your new home town on the old home's national news!
But once again, thank you for all the best wishes and messages....S & T, G & A....don't worry the wine is safe!
hugs
Cara, Shaun, Dad, Mum & Otter
Have some great photos but will have to wait for M&D to download them from their camera when they get home as they were quicker of the David Bailey mark than we were....must be one of the first time wine boxes have been known to IMPROVE reaction speeds!
Also, thanks for the all suggestions on fire starting - from Shaun's electrical work (definately possibility as he shot across the room at the weekend whilst rewiring the kitchen lights) to my cooking (hmmm....).
Still it has been a salutory lesson in to just how dry and hot it gets here...house now insured up to its armpits and we are off to buy a fireproof safe at the weekend.
But the organization here has been amazing - the 10,000+ people affected are about 40 mins to the south of us on the other side of the lake and all seemed to have been evacuted at about 3am and still remain positive. Help is pouring in and all the businesses in town are offering support. Plus given the size and scope of the fires the fact that only 3 houses have been lost is amazing and a testament to the fire crews - most of whom are volunteers.
A small fire started nearer Kelowna during the weekend and before it got to 70m wide 5 HUGE bombers flew over and saturated the whole area in red gloopy gell - no chance of that one springing up.
The winds have died down since the weekend when they were quite ferocious so they seem to be getting it under control and they have infra-red camera flights to spot any hotspots during the night to prevent it flaring up again.
We have BBC World and it is quite surreal to see your new home town on the old home's national news!
But once again, thank you for all the best wishes and messages....S & T, G & A....don't worry the wine is safe!
hugs
Cara, Shaun, Dad, Mum & Otter
Saturday, 18 July 2009
No we haven't been BBQ'ing
We were sitting on the deck enjoying the first fruits of Shaun's labour in the form of a cherry clafoutis - and serious on the labour - this week was a 74hr week for him...at this rate I can afford to go part time!
Ow! Eeek! That hurts! Daddddd!
So not going part time then....
..but back to the original post...a wildfire started up across from us on the opposite side of the lake (phew) at Terrace Mountain.
Luckily that area is fairly unpopulated and hopefully it will be put out before it reaches the small village of Fintry....does make you aware of how close your fire hydrant is!!
Ow! Eeek! That hurts! Daddddd!
So not going part time then....
..but back to the original post...a wildfire started up across from us on the opposite side of the lake (phew) at Terrace Mountain.
Luckily that area is fairly unpopulated and hopefully it will be put out before it reaches the small village of Fintry....does make you aware of how close your fire hydrant is!!
Yay - we have internet again!
Sorry for the news blackout but Telus (aka BT) have been a bit lackadasical about the internet connection...and then M & D arrived (more yays and some dignified (yes I can do on occasion) sniffling at the Greyhound station) and what with the wine tours, cherry tasting and diying (no free hols here, s&t take note!) its been a tad busy!
But we're back with loads of news, photos, cork floors...wildfires...oh yes....its all happening!
But we're back with loads of news, photos, cork floors...wildfires...oh yes....its all happening!
Sunday, 14 June 2009
First swim of summer
The weather here has been glorious for the last 2 weeks with temperatures around 26C and a couple of days with 30C!
At 8am its 18C and blue skies.
So we donned our plastic shoes and went swimming much to the amusement of the locals with many comments like 'you must be new!'. We managed to pick a good day as the first 12 " of the lake had been nicely warmed by the sun although it was b*****y freezing when you dived off the swimming platform.
Naively we tried the same thing a couple of days later and I got no further than my ankles as the wind had been blowing and it had whipped up all the cold water from the bottom of the lake and it was unbelievably cold....although Shaun did persevere with a full on swim and came out with a slightly blue tinge.
Apparently we really have to wait a few more weeks until it gets to 18C (yay!!)
We've bought the house!
Thursday, 11th June - handed over the cheque for the house - we are now the 'beneficial' owners of our first canadian home!
Our lovely sellers let us move in all our stuff from storage into the basement at the weekend - no moving van necessary as Shaun's friend Ron bought his truck along to help. This truck is huge! A Ford 350 - I wish we had taken a picture as we had the 2 seater and the 3 seater sofa in the back of it and they looked dinky! (Unfortunately they didn't weigh dinky but Ron kindly lent his muscles as well as his truck! Which was v. impressive at 70+!!)
We become the legal owners and move in on the 16th....this had been the longest weekend ever!
Our lovely sellers let us move in all our stuff from storage into the basement at the weekend - no moving van necessary as Shaun's friend Ron bought his truck along to help. This truck is huge! A Ford 350 - I wish we had taken a picture as we had the 2 seater and the 3 seater sofa in the back of it and they looked dinky! (Unfortunately they didn't weigh dinky but Ron kindly lent his muscles as well as his truck! Which was v. impressive at 70+!!)
We become the legal owners and move in on the 16th....this had been the longest weekend ever!
The Russian & the Bear
A few days after the purchase (see post below!) 'the boys' rang up with a plan for some shooting up at the open air range at Beaver Lake (which is east of us, above Winfield).So Mr R hops in his new truck (oh yes, he has a pick up truck!) with the cowboy hat (oh yes, he had one of them too!) and the Russian ex-military rifle (pet name Ivana, as in Ivanashoother) [that was him, not me!] and heads out of town...okay village...
The range is in the middle of the wood, which is a good thing as there was a lot of noise going on with the chaps generally having a fab old time beating the hell out of paper targets.But suddenly all the shooting stopped as a black bear just ambled out from the side of the range and meadered across the firing zone.
By way of comparison, back in Christchurch, it was the highlight of the morning if a squirell kamikazed it across the range.....this was a tinsy bit bigger...with teeth...and claws!
Apparently when they went to change the targets, everyone had rifles with them....just in case!
Which does make you think.....here I am, carrying a bear bell which goes 'tinkle-ink, tinkle-ink' thinking 'ooh, that'll scare the nasty bears away' when in truth a bunch of men firing god know's what automatic weaponry doesn't even phase them...might have to upgrade the bear bell/learn a trip and run technique.....!
But it was the first bear sighting we have had in Canada (dead ones on the side of the road excluded) and I am quite happy that Mr R got to see it and I got the story of seeing it nice and safe at home with a glass of white wine!
Ivana....
Ivana & Mr R in action!
Military escalation
Mr R has now doubled the size of the arsenal with new purchase....
...the trip to the gun shop was preceded by the statement/avowal/contract, take your pick, that the reason for said visit was solely, and I stress the solely part of this sentance, the purchase of some cheap, actually going to stress that part too, cheap (!) ammunition for the recently acquired revolver.
Actually the purchase of the first member of Mr R's collection has been somewhat of an underwhelming experience with the Canadian joy of paperwork was getting severely in the way of Mr R's enjoyment of blowing holes in bits of paper. Having spent 6 months waiting for his firearms licence, he then had to get a permit to pick the gun up from the seller's house and take it to ours and ANOTHER piece of paper to take it from our house to the range.... Huh?
But back to the new arrival....went to gun shop for ammo (note that statement)...unfortunately or fortunately depending on whether you view cans of paints as more important than cans of ammo the gun shop turned out to be an Aladdin's cave of all things which go bang!
Think of small child let loose in sweet shop!
Having recovered from the initial overload of happy hysteria and cornered Mr R's and put back on his reins and hidden the credit card in the deepest recesses of my handbag we continue into to the shop.
I then spent the next 1, 2, possibly 3 hours (it gets so difficult to judge time when looking into a future which involves being surrounded by a weapons collection equivalent of the combined Allied Forces in Afganistan).
Meanwhile Mr R was persuing the store with the dedication of a woman who has just received a Christmas bonus on the day Jimmy Choo has a 75% off day! I though I have to say I can see the attraction of a jade green pair of high-heel slingbacks more than a crate load of greasy ex-Russian military SKS semi automatic rifles....but I am obviously just a girl!
Mr R was stuck to the crate of SKS like a particular tenancious limpet and there was just no way that he was going to be prised out the shop without one of them in his sweaty little mitts!
He picked out a 1955 beauty and there followed much discussion on the equivalent value in cans of paint, 'honestly, they would never be this cheap in the UK, if you could even have them', 'look you get a cleaning kit with them...isn't that a cute little brush...its bound to come in useful when we have to clean something house related!!'
And with a sneaky 'but you're the best wife ever... you're even better if you let me buy 500 rounds of ammunition to go with it' - we had a new addition to the collection.
...the trip to the gun shop was preceded by the statement/avowal/contract, take your pick, that the reason for said visit was solely, and I stress the solely part of this sentance, the purchase of some cheap, actually going to stress that part too, cheap (!) ammunition for the recently acquired revolver.
Actually the purchase of the first member of Mr R's collection has been somewhat of an underwhelming experience with the Canadian joy of paperwork was getting severely in the way of Mr R's enjoyment of blowing holes in bits of paper. Having spent 6 months waiting for his firearms licence, he then had to get a permit to pick the gun up from the seller's house and take it to ours and ANOTHER piece of paper to take it from our house to the range.... Huh?
But back to the new arrival....went to gun shop for ammo (note that statement)...unfortunately or fortunately depending on whether you view cans of paints as more important than cans of ammo the gun shop turned out to be an Aladdin's cave of all things which go bang!
Think of small child let loose in sweet shop!
Having recovered from the initial overload of happy hysteria and cornered Mr R's and put back on his reins and hidden the credit card in the deepest recesses of my handbag we continue into to the shop.
I then spent the next 1, 2, possibly 3 hours (it gets so difficult to judge time when looking into a future which involves being surrounded by a weapons collection equivalent of the combined Allied Forces in Afganistan).
Meanwhile Mr R was persuing the store with the dedication of a woman who has just received a Christmas bonus on the day Jimmy Choo has a 75% off day! I though I have to say I can see the attraction of a jade green pair of high-heel slingbacks more than a crate load of greasy ex-Russian military SKS semi automatic rifles....but I am obviously just a girl!
Mr R was stuck to the crate of SKS like a particular tenancious limpet and there was just no way that he was going to be prised out the shop without one of them in his sweaty little mitts!
He picked out a 1955 beauty and there followed much discussion on the equivalent value in cans of paint, 'honestly, they would never be this cheap in the UK, if you could even have them', 'look you get a cleaning kit with them...isn't that a cute little brush...its bound to come in useful when we have to clean something house related!!'
And with a sneaky 'but you're the best wife ever... you're even better if you let me buy 500 rounds of ammunition to go with it' - we had a new addition to the collection.
New job!
So just completed my second week at work!
And it has been a tinsy, little shock to the system ... 6:30 AM!!!! to walk the dog....loving the puppy just a little bit less....
All I can say is that its a good thing that I am working for a great company with lovely people in an extremely interesting industry - 'cos otherwise i would be looking wistfully back at the last 8 months and pondering whether I could persuade Shaun to do two jobs - so I could stay at home with the puppy, making nice dinners and pootling round the garden!!
But that's REALLY not going to happen!
I am working for Twin Creek Media (www.twincreekmedia.com) as Director of Operations (cool title, huh!). Twin Creek are a strategic and creative marketing agency based in Kelowna, specialising in internet marketing, which I am rapidly learning is way more than just creating a website!
They are great, young company and I am really enjoying learning the new industry and also applying all those skills learnt from the folks at OS and Malcolm at CDA.
Their team page gives a real insight into the style of the company - I need to get my picture up there asap.....just trying to work out what photo from my childhood would be best....see, now you all have to go and look!
And it has been a tinsy, little shock to the system ... 6:30 AM!!!! to walk the dog....loving the puppy just a little bit less....
All I can say is that its a good thing that I am working for a great company with lovely people in an extremely interesting industry - 'cos otherwise i would be looking wistfully back at the last 8 months and pondering whether I could persuade Shaun to do two jobs - so I could stay at home with the puppy, making nice dinners and pootling round the garden!!
But that's REALLY not going to happen!
I am working for Twin Creek Media (www.twincreekmedia.com) as Director of Operations (cool title, huh!). Twin Creek are a strategic and creative marketing agency based in Kelowna, specialising in internet marketing, which I am rapidly learning is way more than just creating a website!
They are great, young company and I am really enjoying learning the new industry and also applying all those skills learnt from the folks at OS and Malcolm at CDA.
Their team page gives a real insight into the style of the company - I need to get my picture up there asap.....just trying to work out what photo from my childhood would be best....see, now you all have to go and look!
Grrr!
Damn the strong Canadian economy...1.76 on the exchange!!!!
But the Canadian bank looks FABULOUS - even if it was for only 5 days!
But the Canadian bank looks FABULOUS - even if it was for only 5 days!
Kelowna Beer Fest
In the interests of scientific research and as unoffical members of the "Come to the Okanagan- its fab!" fan club we unselfishly decided to spend an whole afternoon trawlling through keg after keg of beer to ensure that our future guests recieve suitability splendid pints when coming to visit. Actually, I'm claiming the 'unselfish person award' 'cos I was the designated driver! Although Mr R's liver might be putting in a counter claim for that one...
We joined our Kiwi friends, Rowan and Kelly, at the event - Rowan being a bit of hero as he started at 12 noon and went through to 7pm and we only strolled up at 3!
Also, a big 'thank you' to Mr R's bro Keith who supplied Mr R's drinking T-shirts which were a bit of a hit with the locals.Our bestest friends of the day were the guys at Fernie Brewery who a) had top beer (according to the boys) and b) didn't mind sharing it gratis when we ran out of 
tickets/cash!
tickets/cash!Another honourable mention should go to the Admiral Nelson pint produced by a local brewhouse called Freddy, which, according to Mr R, evoked memories of a good pint of Ringwood in the Compass - I could swear there was a moistness to the eyes at that point but I am reliably informed that the air in that particular section of the hall was quite dusty...
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