Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all our family and friends  We wish that everyone has a prosperous year with good health.

2011 has started out to be a cold one in the bay.  Today, the ice has been around all day.  We have not seen the bay so socked in before.  Doug had told us that it does happen and today has proven him right.

Since coming back from Alberta almost a week ago, we have not done much.  George has been checking on the dock and barge everyday and yes, George it is still there.  We were busy warming up the house which it is still trying to do.  Since there is no central heating and we shut everything down when we leave, it was a might chilly to say the least.

It usually takes a couple of days to warm up properly, with the fireplace going, propane heaters going and electric ones when the geny is on.

The birds do not seem to be bothered by the cold, as the varied thrush are enjoying the bugs in the ground, along with the odd flicker.  Eagles have been flying around the estuary hunting and the geese congregate on the beaches.  The residence flock is around somewhere, but not in the bay at the moment. 

Bear is friskier than ever since her food has been changed.  What a difference it made!  The cougar was still around at Christmas according to Doug, but has not been seen since.  Hope it stays that way.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

George, Gail and Bear wish all a Christmas of cherished memories and a New Year full of good health and good cheer.  We wish to thank everyone for their patronage and hope to see you again in 2011. 

We are in Alberta with family and friends for Christmas and will be spending most of the time in Peace River.  We are also very excited to watch Signe open presented Christmas day.  This will be such a spectacular time for her this year.  She was only a month old last year.  Trouble is her second name as she is now walking and giving her mom pay back time.

We had a turkey lupper (lunch and supper) on the 11th with several of our neighbors.  This is the fourth year that we have it.  Jen (post office), Clint (sailcone), Bob and Pat (Lagoon Cove), hermit Bob (lagoon Cove) and Doug all enjoyed the turkey.  We tried to get Elenor and Bing from Hadley Bay but they were not able to attend.

We had just beat the snow when we arrived in Peace River.  We definately do not miss the snow and cold. Minus 20.  Brrrrrrrrr.

Nov 27, 2010

Well, we have had our first snow.  It started on Wednesday afternoon with a blizzard and lasted until Thursday night.  We had over 3 inches and then it decided to rain all night Thursday.  Friday was a beautiful winter day, with some snow still on the ground.  Vancouver Island itself did not fair well and had lots of snow and then freezing rain.

We also had our coldest day ever! that we have seen since moving here.  On Monday, the daytime temperatue was minus 12 C and since we were gone overnight Sunday, it was only 2 inside the house.  TALK ABOUT COLD!!  Thank goodness for electric blankets! We have no proper heat in the house so it was a tad chilly.  It took two days to warm the house up once we lit the propane heaters, had the fireplace going and when the geny was on we had the electric heaters going.  Once the house is warm it stays that way.

George had been busy finishing the walkway to shore and has succeeded in doing a nice job, which he always does.  It is such an improvement and now looks like a proper dock.  It is a little slippery at the moment until we put some rolled roofing down.  George skiied down it the other day.  The otters like the frost on the dock and when then discover the new walkway, they will have a hayday!

December is almost upon us and George and I are excited to spend time with Signe.  Of course everyone else as well.  Signe is now a year old and is such a delight.  She is a good natured little girl.  She is walking now and giving her mom and dad lots of trouble.  They have moved to Grande Prairie and have rented a house.  Darren is doing his practicum close by and Melissa has been certified for a day home worker. 

Christine is doing well in university and enjoys university life.  Being such a social person, she gets along well with everyone.  She will be helping her dad this Christmas break in our hardware store in northern Alberta.



Happy Birthday Bear!



Bear is now officially 12 years old, as it is her birthday today.  She has been spoilt lately, spending the night in the house.  Old age has crept up and she feels the cold.  She has been quite frisky lately, after two bouts of antibiotics and having her ears cleaned.  She is deaf in the one ear because it had cauliflowered and her ear canal is swollen shut.  I will be making a sign that goes on her back that asks not to feed her.  She is allergic and is on a special diet.  Because of the type of dog that she is, yeast forms in her ears and causes all sorts of problems.  When Sue comes to visit, Bear and him like to chase each other.  Have not seen Bear do that for a few years.

Belatedly we wish all our neighbors to the south a wonderul Thanksgiving.  It is the start of the holiday season now.

Happy Halloween Oct 31, 2010

Happy Halloween to everyone.  It has been a busy month and a half.  George went for his check up and received a clean bill of health in regards to his throat.  His next visit is in January.  It has been windy and rainy for the last week or so.  We have had a few nice days however and were able to accomplish a few things.

Terry, our brother-in-law was here for a week at the end of September.  He was able to help George finish the dock to the ramp and a few other things.  Looks good.  No more ramp on the dock now, just the one to the walkway.  Thank you Terry for all your help.

Been busy canning tomatoes and making jam and zucchini relish.  Thanks to Doug for the extra jars.  I really needed them.  I have over 4 dozen jars of jam and 2 doz jars of relish.  There are 18 jars of stewed tomatoes and still more tomatoes to can.  What to make next??

Now that we have had some rain, the garden decided to take off, but still only 6 plants of peas and 3 of beans which are long gone now.  Damn those birds, lol.!!  Winter produce is still thriving and I am looking forward to some beets and turnip.  All for me as George does not like them.  His loss!!

 

The geese have been abundant as of late and there are 6 great white breasted geese that have taken up residence.  They do not scare away easily.

George has been busy taking the wall out of the addition to the restaurant.  After Terry left George found out he had a blood clot in his leg, so had to be stationary for about three weeks.  It was hard for him to sit all day with his leg up, but it paid off as the clot has dissolved.  He is still on "rat poison" for awhile to keep his blood thinned out. 

I was able to go to Edmonton for 8 days at the middle of October.  It was so nice to see the "girls" and Darren too.  Melissa is looking good and Signe is just "trouble".  She has a real personality now and is almost walking unassisted.  It won't be long.  Darren is doing well in university and starts his practicum in November.  They have since moved to Grande Prairie, as Darren's practicum is in Beaverlodge which is not far away.  Christine is doing excellent in university and has settled into the residence quite nicely.  She is enjoying herself and her and Loren do alot together.  Logan is back in Peace River and is working hard.

Don't expect to get any trick or treaters this year.  I would have thought that someone in the neighborhood would dress up, but it is not to be.  Maybe Doug will be dressed up when he comes to dinner tonight.

Doesn't the dock to shore look nice?