Winter and Christmas 2018

The snow is gone but the lake is very wintery.

I really don't want to give up blogging completely.  Nothing much happening around here, well except for Christmas and winter.  And they came in that order.  We did not have a white Christmas!  It snowed first thing Boxing Day morning.

I thought it looked particularly festive around the fireplace

We didn't have any trouble with the cat and the tree.  She just liked to sit under it.

Graeme and Adrienne came up for Christmas eve and Christmas day and then had to leave in the snow Boxing Day morning.

Graeme plays with Zoe

We had a scrumptious Christmas dinner.  I had help in the kitchen and so it wasn't as exhausting as usual.
 

The pretty table before we got started

Santa Doug brought me a Cuisinart.  I have used it for bread a couple of times.  No kneading is wonderful.

 

Isn't she a beauty.  Reminds me of a red Mustang.

So Boxing Day morning the snow came.  I must admit is sure was pretty.  Yes, I say "was" as it is just about gone this morning.  Made for some pretty pictures.

From our deck

|Mountain Ash berries in the snow

We know quail well but have never seen them in the snow,

Driving wasn't a problem.  It sure is nice to have a garage.

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE CHRISTMAS

I offer to you an update with pictures.

We have decorated the house with pretty Christmas lights.

We are working on plans for who, what and where.  Who will be coming to Christmas, what we are going to do, and where the tree will go.  There will be minimal physical Christmas shopping.  We will do it on-line or we will gift with gift cards.  I don't like to shop at the best of times and at this age, at this time of year, I will do whatever I can to avoid it.

We took a short run over to Merritt for a surprise birthday party for our sister-in-law.  We had a lot of fun, with dancing and plenty to eat and drink.

The birthday girl and her two sons

A Congo line through the kitchen

To reach Merritt, we have to travel over the pass through the mountains.  Although there was a lot of snow, the roads were quite good.  We only saw two vehicles off the road.

It's very pretty in the snow.

Soon it will be time for Christmas and another blog.

A PICTURE BLOG

I am quite certain that you wouldn't be interested in our day to day doings but Doug takes some awesome pictures and I would love to share some with you.

The point at dusk

The lonely pier

Along the beach 

I love pictures of benches

Happy duckies

Zoe is Grampa Laird's chair that Doug recently inherited

Zoe supervises the building of the puzzle

Seems suitable to end this picture blog with these.

END OF OCTOBER BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER

Doug painted the front door red.  So attractive.

Time is flying by.  Hard to remember where I left off.

A couple of weeks ago, we made the trip to Doug's cousin Robert and his wife Solveig's place on Quadra Island.  

Robert, Solveig and their friend Dennis

The trip to Quadra Island involves two ferries.  We ferried from Horseshoe Bay on the mainland north of Vancouver to Nanaimo and then drove up Vancouver Island to Campbell River where we took the little ferry to Quadra Island and the little town of Heriot Bay.  

A long trip (10 hours including ferries) and we just stayed overnight but we have been promising and so we went.  We had a nice time including a dinner out the Sol's sister Kirsten and her husband, also Robert.

The wharf at Heriot Bay

Having to travel through the city of Vancouver reminds us of how much we hate the traffic.

Traffic in the Cassiar Tunnel

Other than this little overnight trip, we have been sticking close to home, I with my crafts and Doug with yard stuff.

One day I made pasta

We scored a lot of perennials from a Garden Club member, dahlias and a lily.

Doug likes to take long walks/hikes.  At this point I cannot walk long distances.  He takes nice pictures and shares with me.

Ducks on the creek

There are still unpicked apples

Between the cat, doing a jigsaw puzzle and Netflix we are well entertained.

This hill is referred to as Dragon Head.  It's what we see out our bedroom window

Doug made a terrarium

Before and.....

after.

Until next time, ta ra and cheerio!

OUR FIRST CANADIAN AUTUMN IN 10 YEARS

Yes it's true, we have not experienced autumn in Canada since 2008.  

The trees are all turning.  We didn't not realize that the grape vines all change colour too.  It's quite simply beautiful around here.

Very red tree in the neighbour's yard

Looking down on the Summerland marina.

A  handy bench with a view.

Our friends have left for the south but we are making new friends.  I doubt we will go south this winter at all.  We have lots of plans both around the house and further.  Tomorrow we are going to Vancouver Island (and then Quadra Island) to visit Doug's cousin and his wife in a little place on Quadra called Heriot Bay.  We are not taking the motorhome and are staying in an Inn overnight.  Should be fun.  I like riding the ferry.  We will have to be on the road by 5:30 am to make the ferry.

Doug continues to ride his bike a couple of times a week.  He likes the trails on the other side of the lake more but is still exploring.

The beach at the bottom of hill

Some boats at the marina

Hey Jim, we hear the fishing is good

I finished my second quilting project, a Christmas Tree skirt.  It was fun.  I am just starting my next project.  I am going to try to make most of my Christmas gifts this year.

We had quite a bit of company on Thanksgiving weekend.  Graeme got the date wrong and he and Adrienne came for an overnight on the Saturday.  Short visit but nice to see them.  Sunday we had our friends Dale and Cathy and Chuck and Linda for Thanksgiving dinner.  After dinner we played games.  They are all our RVing friends and they have now left for Arizona.

Graeme and Adrienne

Dale at the buffet, Linda, Cathy, Chuck and I

We joined the Naramata Garden club.  Yeah, I know we don't live in Naramata but our friends do and the club doesn't mind.  I seem to have gotten myself more involved with the Christmas party than I had intended.  Oh well, I can do it.

That's about it for now.  Ta Ra.

CHECKING IN

Well it's October and time I checked in.  As many bloggers will tell you there are times that blogging is more like keeping a personal diary.  Some things may not be interesting to my followers but in years to come, I will know what we did in September 2018.

We have finally finished furnishing all the rooms that we plan to furnish.  We have a games room that is still unfurnished but I did hear someone mention "pooltable".

Naming the rooms of this house is a bit of a problem.  Is it Craft Room or Sewing Room or my office?  Is it family room (we don't have any family here except us) or rec room? We are calling this one the fire place room.

Fireplace room because we can have a real fire here.

We have wildlife.  No not just the crazy cat and she is crazy often.  Smart but crazy.  One night at 3 a.m., we were awoken by a sound on the deck outside our bedroom window.  There were 7 or 8 raccoons out there.  We have deer visit almost daily.

In my sewing (or is it craft) room, I do sewing and craft projects.  For years I have wanted to take up quilting.   I registered for a quilting class but it was cancelled.  With a little prodding from a friend, I explored Youtube and came up with a plan.  I shopped for the materials I needed (holy cow - expensive!) and finished my first project, a table runner.  Not perfect but not bad for a first try.

Add caption

Yesterday we had a chance to explore the Summerland Ornamental Gardens.  We have driven by dozens of times.  The gardens did not disappoint.

Fall is about as pretty as spring I would say.