Wednesday, February 27th - more sunshine ahead

It's a chilly -14' this morning but once that sunshine breaks through we'll have another beautiful sunny day to enjoy - the third in a row! It's hovered just around the freezing point the last couple of days and with the sunshine, it's wonderful weather -  for February.
Not much going on right now. I did finally get around to making some marmalade. I had come across a recipe in a magazine for a simple marmalade made with only clementines, a bit of lemon and some sugar. I've always liked the sweet but tart flavour so thought I'd give it a try. What a treat! It's quite fresh tasting and I really like it. I made one batch using the original recipe and then tried a second batch with the variation of adding a few hot chilli pepper flakes. That one also turned out great. I'll be sure to keep that recipe.
Brenda very kindly picked up the package I had at the post office and delivered it last night. I wanting to try some lip balm and hand creams using beeswax. I've found a couple of simple recipes for basic things but needed the beeswax. I found a piece in a health food store in Nova Scotia on one of our day trips around the area. Yesterday I found the coconut oil and vitamin E tablets I needed so I can get started. One of the things in the package were little jars to put creams and balms in so I'm going to give that a go. I did a tiny batch of what was meant to be hand cream last night but it's quite firm. It does seem to work although it's quite oily when you rub it onto your hands. I'm going to try it on my heels, which tend to be quite dry, in the evenings before bed time and see if it improves them any. I know there will be lots of trial and error but that's the fun part.
The other thing I came across when looking for supplies is an item called Soap Nuts. I'd never heard of them before and it seems they are the dried fruit of a tree found in Nepal and India. They are hard round pieces about the size of an acorn. You put 4 or 5 into a muslin bag and put them into your wash instead of soap. Apparently they clean, deodorize and soften your clothes - no soaps or fabric softeners required. They've been used for thousands of years. When the wash is done, you take the little bag out and reuse it 4 or 5 times before you can compost the nuts. I'm really keen to give it a try and I actually found a place in town that sells them so I won't have to buy them online anymore if I like them. I'm anxious to give them a try tonight. I'm really liking the fact that they are totally chemical free.They're perfect for use by people with sensitive skin or sensitivities to fragrances. I'll get back to you on the results! Here's the proper info on them:

What Are Soap Nuts?

Soap nuts aren't technically nuts. They're fruit, taken from the soapberry tree (Sapindus mukorrosi). In appearance, they're similar to the lychee nut, yet they're not grown for consumption. Thanks to their high concentration of foaming "saponin," soap nuts are used throughout the world as cleaning agents.

Harvested in India and Nepal, soap nuts have been used for centuries in Southeast Asia and for decades in Europe. In the past decade, it has made its way to North America, where it has been recognized as a natural, potent cleaning alternative to the harsh chemicals common to detergents and household cleaners.

What Is Saponin? Saponin is the chemical compound that makes soap nuts "sud." When met with an aqueous solution, the naturally-occurring saponin produces a foam-like substance -- the same kind of reaction detergents aim to create with their lab-created surfactants. This solution can be applied to most any purpose, but most commonly, it is used for laundry. Indeed, soap nuts and their dose of saponin have emerged a legitimate green alternative to commercial detergents.

Who knew?

Monday, February 25th - back to the daily grind

Early good morning from Subway – 5:30 to be exact. It’s my new early morning drop someone at the airport destination. I didn’t realize they’re open 24 hrs at the Belvedere and University location. So I can enjoy a tea or coffee and a breakfast sandwich and be all done before 6:00. Only problem is there’s no wi-fi but I can work around that. It was a chilly -8’ when we left home this morning but it should reach a sunny hi of -2’ later.

What a great weekend. We enjoyed a really nice meal at the resort on Friday evening before packing up and heading out early on Saturday morning. Our first destination was Coldbrook NS to visit with a friend who worked with Lloyd in Toronto and her husband. Sandra and Phil have built a lovely house there and retired to the east coast way of life. We met them for breakfast at a local eatery before going back to their house for a quick visit and tour of the new abode. Then it was off to Windsor to meet with two IAAP girls – Bonnie and Christine. Lloyd occupied himself by going off and exploring the local area around the pub the girls and I were meeting at. We had a very successful meeting and they were totally onboard with the ideas I have for the event in 2014. Hopefully the rest of the committee will agree and we can go ahead with our plans.

We left Windsor around 3:00 and weren’t too far down the road when I received a text message from Brenda. Seems they were in Nova Scotia to look at a tractor. I prefer to think they just missed us and drove over to meet us because they were looking forward to having us back home (I know, I know… only in my own mind)

It ended up working out well as they met Brenda’s brother for a coffee and we got to that particular Tim’s just as they were outside saying their goodbyes. So that worked well. They showed us an alternate way home that was a lovely drive. Once we all got back to the island we stopped for something to eat at a restaurant downtown.

It wasn’t very late when we got home but by the time we put some of our stuff away, it was time for bed as it had been a fairly long day.

Sunday morning dawned cold and overcast but promising to get sunny and milder later in the afternoon. I finished unpacking and putting the rest of our holiday supplies away and then we had some breakfast. I was just doing some laundry so Lloyd could pack to go to Toronto when Brenda called to see if I was interested in checking out the ski trails over at Dalvay. Great idea. So she picked me up and we headed over. It was still overcast but the sun was peeking through from time to time. The trails aren’t being groomed this year but enough people have been out that there’s a decent trail to follow. We haven’t really been out yet this year so I’m sure we’ll be feeling the 6 km that we skied today or tomorrow. My legs and feet were a bit achy overnight but they’re not so bad this morning. Tomorrow may be a different story.

After skiing we headed into town and picked up something for dessert and some Chinese take out for supper. We called Bernie and instructed him to set the table (which he apparently delegated) and we called Lloyd to meet us there. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and the company and it was a nice relaxing way to end off a totally relaxing week.

Now this morning it’s back to the old routine. I dropped Lloyd off and I haven’t heard from him so I can only assume he got on the flight. His friend Jim will pick him up at the airport when he arrives.

I know the kids are looking forward to his visit. James just got his Cadets uniform and is looking for some pointers on how to put the best polish on his boots as well as tagging along to the airport to help with airplane construction when ever he can. Tristen is also looking forward to his arrival as he’s bringing with him our scrapbook of our visit to Australia in 2005. His teacher remembered one of the other kids bringing it in when their class studied that part of the world. They are also learning about Africa and Lloyd has some pictures from his trip there. Who knows, he  will likely end up going with Tristen to school as his “Show and Tell’. Tristen would really enjoy that.

Friday, February 22nd - another lovely day here in the sunny south

It's -1' this morning and overcast but patches of blue are just starting to peek through the clouds and the sun is trying very hard to come out.
Today will be a pretty quiet day - mostly starting to pack up stuff to head out early tomorrow morning. As I write this, Lloyd is on the phone to the husband of one of his previous co-workers who retired from Ontario to here in Nova Scotia. The plan is to meet with them for breakfast and then I have a meeting in Windsor with some admin girls regarding our event in 2014.

Wednesday turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day. I had a couple of things to do in town then when I got back, we went for a lovely walk. By the afternoon the temperature was 8' and the sun was shining - a lovely day for a walk on the hiking trails. We took the trail from the cottage that ran along the beach and ended up at the lodge. We decided we might need a drink at the bar so wandered in and perched ourselves on a couple of bar stools. The fellow behind the bar, named Sid, was manning one of the booths at the 'On the Rocks' event on Saturday so he was already familiar to us. Lloyd asked if he knew how to make a Manhattan, and that was it. Several Manhattans later we wandered our way back to the cottage. It had been a lovely afternoon and we totally enjoyed chatting with Sid. Turns out he and his wife will be relocating to PEI in the spring to take on a new venture. More on that later.

Thursday we woke to a light dusting of snow but nothing too serious. We had a leisurely breakfast and then headed out to Bridgewater to see what was there. It was a little bigger than most of the places we'd been to this week so we parked the car and strolled down the main street. Nothing too exciting but it was something to do. From there we headed out for lunch at a restaurant that was recommended to us for Fish and Chips. We ordered their hot Jalapeno dip with nacho chips for the start and it was huge! We shared that and then followed with a 3 piece fish and chips that we shared.
We took the secondary road back that wound along the coast - great road for a bike ride.
When we got back, Lloyd cut up some chicken we had brought with us and thawed to make a chicken Korma for lunch today. He then made a chicken soup with the bones left over. While it was simmering we headed to the lodge and spent some very relaxing time in the hot tub. There was no one around so we had the place entirely to ourselves. We were just leaving and a group  of young guys came in so we timed it just right.  When we got back we had our soup and watched a movie - a nice relaxing ending to another great day.

We contemplated going up to Peggy's Cove today but with most things along the way closed, it's a lot of driving to see some rocks and a lighthouse we've already seen several times. I can see a weekend overnight trip in the summer to do that area, Lunenburg and Chester.  The first time I ever ate mussels and really enjoyed them was in Chester - a huge bucket of mussels and a cold beer - an unbeatable combination.

So instead I think we'll likely work a bit on packing up some today. We plan to have dinner at the lodge tonight before heading out tomorrow.  There may also be some time spent in the hot tub this afternoon, who knows.

I see from the alerts that I get from the local PEI radio station that schools were delayed this morning - looks like we've missed a bit of messy weather while we've been away.

Wednesday, February 20th - a late start to the day

It's a mild but rainy 3' here on the south coast of Nova Scotia. I see that it's a storm day in PEI and perhaps in other parts of the Maritimes but here it's just rain. Tomorrow should be drier as should Friday.

Yesterday, Tuesday, was beautiful here. It was around 3' and the sun was shining so it was a perfect day to go off exploring. We had breakfast then headed west cross country to Annapolis. It would have been a great day to poke around that town but most things were closed for the season. Needless to say, we didn't spend a lot of time there. Next we traveled a bit further down the coast to Digby as Lloyd had  a craving for some Digby scallops. Again, a lot of places were closed for the season but we did find a nice restaurant overlooking the water that had lots of scallop dishes on the menu. Lloyd had a Seafood Lasagna that was loaded with big pieces of scallops as well as other seafood. I had the Scallop wrap -
nothing in the wrap except some lettuce and nicely seared scallops. We shared our items so we each had a taste of both.
After lunch, we took the scenic route down to Yarmouth, where we stopped to pick up a few supplies - bread, milk, eggs - really exciting stuff like that. Then eventually found our way back out to the highway to finish the trip. We returned to the cottage around 7:00 pm so it was a full day.

All in all it's been a very relaxing time. With the rain today, it just might be a sit in the hot tub at the resort kind of day, while we contemplate what to do tomorrow.

Patti and the kids got back from Florida, a little later than planned, but flying standby, you just never know when you will arrive at your destination. I haven't heard about James cadet weekend but his speed skating meet went really well, resulting in yet another gold medal for our junior athlete! Congratulations James.

I missed a call from Brenda on Saturday and I did send her a text message but I didn't realize until yesterday that it never went through. She was calling to tell me about hearing a story on the radio about a wedding that was taking place here at the resort when the fire broke out over a year ago. Coincidence that it was being broadcast just as we were heading there!

Monday February 18th - Happy Family/Islander Day - depending on your location

Good morning from just outside Liverpool, NS.  It's -7' this morning and we've gotten a few cms of new snow overnight and it's quite breezy but the up side is we don't have to go anywhere. I was reading the weather network and it says there's a blizzard warning at home but only 5 cm of snow is expected. I'll have to find out exactly what constitutes a blizzard!

 We're not minding the snow at all as it rained on Saturday afternoon and pretty much all day on Sunday. It's nice to not be walking around in the mud. We had a great trip down - sunny for parts of it. We stopped into visit Masstown Market. I'd heard of it before but had no idea where it was. What a treat to see signs on the side of the road and to find out it was just off the highway. It was sunny and +5' so it was nice to just poke around. You didn't mind getting in and out of the car. Once we got further south it was a little wetter but still nothing too serious.

We arrived at the resort around 4:00. It was quite busy as the event on Saturday evening was sold out. A number of people had come to stay for the weekend but a lot were from town.
We registered and got settled into our little cottage. What a lovely spot. We have a full kitchen complete with dishwasher, washer and dryer. Two bedrooms and a wood burning fireplace in the living room area. Not a bad spot for some R and R.

Saturday nights "On the Rocks" event was great fun. We were in a banquet room with probably about 200 people. There was a buffet of finger foods down the centre of the room and the wine, beer and spirits displays were all around the outside. One really nice touch was a sheet we were given along with a pen with the vendors listed and the names of all beverages being dispensed. This enabled you to make  note of what you tasted as you went along. Great idea. Needless to say we had lots to eat and drink. The food was really good, and such a variety. They started out with three or four things on the tables and then as the evening went on more and more was added. There was certainly no need for anyone to go away hungry, and we certainly didn't. There was a shuttle service available that picked us up at the door and then delivered us back to our cottage when we were ready to leave. What a great service.
All in all it was a great evening.

Sunday was rainy and dreary so we finished watching the last episodes of House of Cards  before heading out to town around noon. Liverpool is a smallish place but has a Sobey's and a Superstore so we were all set. We had bought some interesting cheeses and bread and such at Masstown Market but we had forgotten things like eggs for breakfast. We brought scallops and shrimps but no eggs!
We've been eating in so far. We brought most of what we need, but I suspect we will be going out more once the week goes on. Today everything is closed so we may venture out just to explore the area. We did a bit of that yesterday on the way back but with the snow and wind today, we may just explore on foot today. The dog will love that.

Our vacation started on Friday evening with a lovely visit with friends. There were a total of 8 of us and an enjoyable evening was had by all. By now we were truly in vacation mode! Thanks everyone for a great evening.

Patti and two of the kids are still in Florida and James is at his Air Cadets weekend. Have a great weekend everyone.

Friday, February 15th - A wonderful Valentines Day

It's a balmy -5 this morning and heading for a sunny high of -1 so not too bad a day in store.

Well, yesterday was Valentine's Day and what a day it was. I had suggested to Lloyd on Monday evening, when we were at the Van Gaals, that he could cook a Valentine's dinner for us on Thursday. And that's exactly what he did, and what a dinner it was.
Of course everything was made from scratch, as usual. We started out with a very flavourful Borsch (beet soup) followed by a spinach salad topped with a seven grain salad.
Our main course was grilled steak, topped with seared scallops and bernaise sauce with a delicious side of a rice dish he came up with at the last minute. Dessert was a luscious Chocolate Amaretto Cheesecake.
Everything was delicious and the entire meal got rave reviews. So a huge thank you and maybe even a hug or two, to Lloyd for doing such a great job. We all really appreciated it. It made for a very special Valentines Day for all of us.
Patti and two of the kids flew to Florida yesterday to spend a few days with Greg's mom and dad. James happily stayed at home as he has an overnight exercise this weekend with the Air Cadets and a Speed Skating meet on Monday.
Tomorrow morning we head off to the south as well - the south shore of Nova Scotia, that is. It should be a nice relaxing time. But first we're getting together with a group of  friends tonight for some socializing! Should be fun.
Have a great long weekend everyone!

Wednesday, February 13th - what's all the 'buzz' about?

It should be an okay day today without any weather surprises. It's currently -3' and we should reach 0' with a mix of sun and cloud. Yesterday we had it all - freezing rain in the morning, then heavy rain in the afternoon followed by heavier snow before time to leave work. If you didn't like the weather yesterday you just had to wait half an hour, and it would change.  Today shouldn't be quite so dramatic.

On Monday, even though he was swamped with snowplowing jobs, Bernie came over and gave Lloyd a hand in getting the sheets of wood back on the garage roof - a difficult job to do all by yourself. So thanks to Bernie for that.  After spending the whole weekend holed up in the house, we went over to the Van Gaals for a visit on Monday evening.  They had spent a large part of the day on Saturday watching a new series on Netflix called House of Cards. After telling us about it we watched some of it on Sunday. Brenda asked if we'd had a chance to check it out and we had to admit we were on Episode 9. We too spent a fair bit of the weekend in front of the TV.

When Lloyd and Bernie went to Moncton they were in search of Bee Keeping stuff. And that's exactly what they came home with - everything except the bees! I know nothing about bee keeping but I have a feeling I'm going to be learning a whole lot in the next few months. My back porch  is full of pieces of pine and there's a large wooden box on my kitchen island. Apparently all of these bits and pieces will eventually become a bee hive.

He's been doing all kinds of research and finding out who the other bee keepers are on the island. There's even a Bee Keepers Association here and he's now on the list to be invited to their March meeting. Apparently there aren't enough bees on the island to supply the current pollination needs. I'm sure this will be an interesting experiment for the two boys, who are doing this together.

Apparently my part in all this is to figure out how to use the excess bees wax so I've been researching recipes for products using this ingredient. Lots more research to do. That part I don't mind as I'm not likely to get stung in the kitchen!




All  they have to do now is assemble and add bees!

Monday, February 11th - it wasn't a snow day, it was a snow weekend!

It's currently -10' this morning but will warm up to -3' later on. It was somewhat of a non activity weekend. Friday Bernie and Lloyd went to Moncton on a day trip and we had no idea when they would get back so Brenda and I  made our own plans. We met here after work for wine and nachos. The boys arrived home just as we were sitting down to eat but they'd had a late lunch so weren't especially hungry. A pleasant evening was spent in front of the TV with good company as we enjoyed our food and heard all about their trip off the island.

It started snowing sometime very early on Saturday morning. It wasn't that we had that much snow but the high winds made it impossible to see. Work called me at 7:30 to tell me they weren't opening so I had the day off!  It kept snowing and blowing all day and all night and continued into Sunday. I'm embarrassed to say I wasn't outside once during the two days. The first thing that happened was the door blew off our small shed. So Lloyd went out and found it and dragged it back and nailed it back in place to cover up the opening.  As the day progressed three pieces were blown off the roof of the newly constructed garage, as it hasn't yet got any shingles. Needless to say going up on the roof in 80 km wind in a blizzard wasn't any kind of option. So all we can do with that is wait till it stops. The snow was blowing from across the river and by Sunday morning it was about three feet deep at the bottom half of the lane and on sections of the road. We didn't see a plow until sometime Sunday morning.
When I opened the back door on Saturday to let the dog out, there was a wall of snow up to the window, that I had to shovel with the dust pan just to get out the door.

By Sunday afternoon the winds had died down somewhat and the snow wasn't coming down quite so heavily when our neighbour came over and blew the snow out of the lane for us. Hopefully it's won't be too bad this morning.

Needless to say our volunteer appreciation dinner at the Rec Centre was postponed on Saturday with hopes of holding it on Sunday. By Sunday afternoon it was pretty clear that most people still wouldn't be dug out yet so it was postponed till next weekend. Unfortunately we'll be away so will miss it. We were just glad that this big storm wasn't next weekend.

On looking at the online weather this morning it appears that parts of Southern Ontario received a lot more snow than we did. Our problem was the wind. Some parts of the yard are almost bare and others have six foot drifts so the snow is  here, it's just distributed funny. The kids would love it. It wouldn't be so good for sliding but he drifts would make great forts. Because of the wind it's quite hard and you can almost walk on them.  We were hoping it would help the cross country ski trails but is's supposed to rain tomorrow and be 6' so who knows. It could be really messy.

Being as the wind has died down, it looks like there should be no problems getting to work this morning. One more snow day would have been nice but....

Friday, February 8th - it could get interesting in the next 2 days

It's a very cold -21' this morning with a wind chill of -29', pretty much what we had all day yesterday. The sun was shining but it was very cold when you went outside. We may get up to 40 cm of snow in the next couple of days but we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Other than the weather not much else has been going on. The boys (Lloyd and Bernie) are planning to go to Moncton today to check out some bee keeping supplies. Apparently that is going to be our first undertaking - making honey. Lloyd wants to keep bees for honey and Bernie wants to pollinate fields so they are thinking this might work for both of them.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained!  Hopefully they get back before the weather gets nasty.

We are scheduled to have our volunteer appreciation dinner on Saturday night at the Rec Centre but I'm not sure if the weather will impact that or not. I'm sure we'll hear if it does.

Patti texted me a couple of days ago to advise that Meghan has been invited to participate in the Grand Finale of their dance recital for the first time - not all students are involved so she's very excited about that. Now I really have no choice but to make the trip to watch it. James got his first report card and he's done very well. His marks are quite high and he's very proud of himself as he should be. Glad to see that he takes after his mother and father and not his grandmother in that regard.

My condolences to Brenda who had to go out and get into a freezing cold school bus - it can't be a great experience on these bitter cold mornings.  I'm off to check the weather and see how much of the snow Ontario is going to receive today, before it moves out here and combines with another system. Sounds like it could be fun!

Wednesday, February 6th - more weather may be on the way

Winter may have been in bringing us any snow but it seems to be making up for lost time. Monday we received a little less than was predicted but it was around 12 cm - just enough to cause most things to close for the day - except my work, of course. Friend Brenda was ever so glad to have an extra day to get back into things after her trip. The drive in the morning wasn't too - snow covering icy roads, but the drive home was made even more interesting by high winds whipping the freshly fallen snow around. But I've driven in worse so I just took my time and made it home without incident.

Tuesday was an okay day with lots of sunshine although much colder. The next few days could prove interesting if they are anywhere close to their predictions. Tomorrow morning may have a wind chill of -35' so I should be happy with this mornings -18' with no wind.

Friday is calling for a few flurries with a 40% chance of precipitation that may bring 15 to 20 cms of snow (seems like more than a few flurries to me!). Saturday may be a snow day for us as we may see 30 to 40 cms of snow with a 90% chance of precipitation.  That should be fun! But they've been wrong before so we'll just have to see what happens. It is February in Atlantic Canada after all. I was looking at some photos from Wasaga Ontario and they have more than enough snow to cross country ski on, so hopefully we can do that soon as well.

A couple of years ago I purchased a new sewing machine because mine died in the middle of a project and I needed something simple to get it finished. A fancy one wasn't in the budget at the time as it was just before Christmas. The store has a class for new owners to familiarize them with their machines. I've been sewing for a long time but figured it couldn't hurt to take a bit of a refresher. They don't hold the classes very often so I finally got to one last night. It was much better than I had expected. I learned some new things and found our how to use the little gadgets that came with my basic machine. It was a good little incentive to get back to doing some sewing. There we definitely be a spot for my sewing machine and serger in my new craft area when it's finishes.

Speaking of crafts, the lady nearby that I first met who has a loom, emailed me yesterday to advise that the woman who first taught her how to weave is back on the island after living away for a number of years. So Sheila  suggested to me that we can both set up a class with her previous teacher as it's been a while since she's done any weaving. She thought a refresher might be good and she thought of me. I'm every so pleased that she did. I could certainly benefit from some more teaching as I've kind of got the basics but really need to learn so much more.  Things are finally all coming together - now I know how to use the gadgets on my sewing machine and next I'll conquer the loom!

Monday, February 4th -the snow has finally arrived

It's a little late for the Christmas guests, but snow has finally arrived. We were supposed to receive upwards of 30 cm but I don't think that's the case. This morning it's looking more like about 10 cm. They are also predicting very strong winds but so far it's very calm outside. It's going to have to pick up quite a bit in a hurry if it's going to be any kind of snow day. At this point I suspect I will be going to work. On Saturday everyone at work was predicting it might be a snow day on Monday, but now it's not looking like it - but who knows.

It was a pretty quiet and relaxing weekend. I worked on Saturday then spent some time poking around at the Zellers store that's closing soon. Each week the remaining merchandise comes down in price a little more, so you just never know what bargains you might find. Then a quick trip to the grocery store for some basics and I was surprised to find that it was after 4:00 when I got home.  I had a snack when I got home as I hadn't had any lunch so I really wasn't hungry when it was supper time. Lloyd had checked the VanGaals house earlier and found that the heat was off. We went over after supper to see if we could get the wood furnace going, but young Will was home by that time.  He had everything under control so we dropped off a cake for them to enjoy with their tea when they got home later.  On our way home we made a trip out to a local golf course that has a restaurant that stays open all year. We popped in their for some wings and beer before heading back home.

Sunday morning was a quiet one and unlike the previous two Sundays, we were't expecting any company. It started snowing lightly in the morning and continued that way throughout the day.  Lloyd was in a cooking mood and had a new recipe he wanted to try out so I was ordered out of 'his' kitchen. Fine by me. I finished a book I had been reading then I spent the rest of the day getting things set up better in the craft room. I set up the cricut, the lap top and the colour printer so now we are ready to Scrapbook. In fact it was so ready that I spent the afternoon finishing the book I'd been working on.  Then after some searching, I found the pictures I'd gotten printed from our trip to Tucson in 2010. That will be my next project.

The VanGaals came over for a visit a little after 6:00 and we enjoyed some snacks and a couple of drinks with them and heard all about their trip. They even brought gifts so that was also extremely nice of them.  All in all a very relaxing weekend - for a change.

Friday, February 1st - is winter finally going to get here?

This morning it's -1' at 5:30 and we'll go down to -5' by this afternoon.

The big news, no, the only news the past few days has definitely been our weather. Wednesday started out fairly mild. I had a doctors appointment at 10:30 and when I returned to work at 11:15 it was just starting to rain. By 11:30 that had changed to freezing rain which lasted approximately 3 hours. During that time the entire island was glazed over with a sheet of ice. There were many accidents during that time. Lloyd was in town and on his way home  in the middle of it. A car in front of him spun around a few times and then ended up in the ditch. Fortunately there were no serious injuries in any of the reported mishaps. The freezing rain gave way to plain old rain as the temperature started to rise, and by the time I left work at 5:00 the roads were fine. The school buses were delayed an hour and a half at the end of the day just to be safe.

Thursday morning was a strange one. The temperature at 5:30 in the morning was 11' our here - on the 30th of January!   But the wind was really strong, gusting up to 100 km per hour so needless to say there were restrictions on the bridge. It stayed that temperature all day and for a while in the afternoon we had wicked heavy rain as well, but it too had stopped later in the day, but the wind persisted all night.

This morning the wind is still howling and it' starting to cool off to more seasonable temperatures.  In fact, we may see 15 to 20 cm of snow on Sunday. Maybe we'll get to ski at some point yet this winter.

Other than battling the elements, not a lot is going on. It's been pretty quite out here on the hill.  I hear via Lloyd and Facebook, that the Van Gaals are in Pennsylvania and should be back in Canada sometime Saturday afternoon. I suspect that means they will be home sometime on Sunday so hopefully the weather will cooperate for the rest of their journey. I'm looking forward to hearing all about their trip.