Snow, Snow and more Snow

Mother Nature sure had a surprise for us this year. We received a record snowfall, and had far colder weather than we've experienced so far. Usually the snow only lasts for a day, or two at the most, and some winters there hasn't been any at all. But this year we got a white christmas well in advance. We lost power for a day, but were well prepared so we were fine. However, the pipes also froze, so we had to add heat to the pump house. Everything is working well now, and we fared better than some of our neighbours who lost their eavestroughs. More snow is due to come for New Year's, but here are some pix of the snow of 2008. You can see how deep the snow is by comparing the earlier photos of Buddah under the star magnolia bush in spring and the rock herons in the back yard in summer. The second picture is in the backyard, and you can see that the snow is still falling.

We are still here and happy about it

We have delayed the move, since the other place had mice. I have been pretty busy, but might start this up again now that we have unpacked a lot of our things. Here is a view of part of the back yard, just off the bedroom patio doors. This was originally the vegetable garden, but it was not well drained so we will build raised beds next year (hopefully) and put in a memorial zen garden. This is for Y's parents, K's mother and K's cousin Pauline.

The other photo is an inuksuk built on the beach which is about 5 minutes walk from our home. The tides have taken it away by now, but as you can see, we do love our inuksuit.

Hopefull we will add things periodically when we have time, so that all our family and friends have an idea of what our home is like.

What great friends

Our friends and neighbours have been so supportive around this whole process. They helped us pack and sort and clean to get ready for showing the house, and even offered us storage space. Brought us home made soup so we didn't have to worry about making lunch too! This is such a great community, so we really want to make sure that we are able to continue to live on Gabriola.

We had wanted to be less car dependant, and to be able to walk to work. However, when we had the house inspection done on the duplex we had in mind, it just was not acceptable. So we withdrew our offer and took our own little home off the market for the moment. But we will still be looking.

Since we have boxed up a lot of stuff, it will be a good opportunity to paint, even if we don't move for a while. And frankly, every time I walk into the house I realized how much I love it, and how hard it will be to leave here. It is a bit of a relief actually, as the other place did not have the character and the loving care we have put into our home.

We love inuksuit, and have built a number of small ones around the yard and into the pathway. One of the meanings of an inuksuk is to help people find their way home. They are also good resting places. So it really does seem appropriate these days, our little sanctuary.

We also have placed a couple of inuksuit into the gravel pathway, as shown in the photo. This one of two in the front path, and we have another in the back near the canopy. Next time I'll show a photo of the back.

We'll miss these trees

It is time to pick the last of the apples soon. There are three apple trees, a plum tree and a pear tree. (Although we are visited by quail and guinea hens, we have not yet had a partridge in that pear tree!). The 5 blueberry bushes have turned red in the back corner, as has our Japanese maple out front. We also have two very large regular Maple trees and two mature cedars. But my personal favourite is the star magnolia. The photo shows it in the spring, but we enjoy it all year round. There is also a yellow tulip magnolia in the back, and a pink tulip magnolia by the winter pond. Oh yes, and the rhodos. They are marvelous in the spring too. I shall have to see if I can find an old photo of the rhodos and add that later.

Now I must get back to packing!

We love this little house but it is time to move on

We fell in love with this house six years ago, and know that it was the best decision we ever made. It has been a joy to be here - on this wonderful island, just a few minutes walk to the beach, and the perfect size for us. It is really hard to think about moving somewhere else, but we have just had an offer accepted for one of the units in the 55+ townhouse complex which will be walking distance to work for both of us.

I will be keeping everyone up to date on our progress, and paying tribute to our little dream home which we will soon be putting on the market.