Another year passes us by

Woosh!.......... well that's' what it felt like as 2017 left us. It seemed that the year had passed us by much quicker than normal. No sooner had we put the Christmas decorations away, we were looking at them again.

In January, we drove to Calgary. We had planned to go for a couple of months, but the cold, snow and ice certainly drove it home to us that this type of weather is no longer for us, so we beat a hasty and very early retreat back to the Island three weeks later, missing a huge dump of snow in central BC by a couple of days and -37°C temperatures and lots of snow back in Calgary. To be fair, I don't believe the temperature reached any lower than -6°C here in Courtenay which is even cold for here.

Mid February

As I write this part of our blog, we are looking out of the den window at the snow on the ground from last night. Although people from around here say "oh it rarely snows here during the winter" that statement is moderately accurate, but we have had snow over the past few months.  

With the snowpack being so deep this year, one can only hope Calgary does not experience the flooding it had about five years ago. That would be really hard on people. 

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We thoroughly enjoyed watching the Winter Olympics from South Korea. We thought, the opening and closing ceremonies were nothing short of spectacular. In fact, the best we had ever seen and of course, our Canadian athletes did extremely well. 

We even had a Gold medal earned by a young athlete from Comox which was really exciting. She's a real personality here in the Valley now, everyone vying for her to speak at their meetings and events. Good for her.

March 30

We have a rose bush in a container in the yard that produces red roses and white roses off the same bush which we are waiting for to flower again this year.  A legacy of grafting a red rose onto white rose rootstock. 

The grafting (not done by us) was originally to commemorate Canada Day but we call it our "Amy Rose" as grandaughter Amy was born July 1, Canada Day.  

The Amy Rose already has 2 inch long new growth on it for this year. Our Hydrangea leaves are sprouting as are our array of different coloured Clematis plants in the back yard.

The Cherry blossoms are out in full display in Victoria and here, the white and pink magnolias are fully out with beautiful blossoms so the warmer spring weather cannot be far away although to be fair, it will be sunny and 12°C today.  

Fishing Time

Fishing season is here again. I just purchased my fishing license online as did my friend from Cochrane, Alberta who stores his boat here. He and his family arrived on Wednesday, so hopefully we will be out on the Strait of Georgia once more quite soon catching those big Salmon.  There are lots of boats catching fish right now, so we are looking forward to it.

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Physically, I am awaiting a total left knee and a right hip replacement. The knee will come first. I should get the knee done in the next nine months. The hip we aren't sure about it could be as long as two years. Donna had that same surgery (knee replacement) around nine years ago and is chugging along wonderfully. 


Donna has been wonderful, taking over the mowing last fall when I was confined to the house recovering from a badly torn ligament in the knee due to a nasty fall in the garage, but the ligaments have all but healed now so I am back at it....finally, I can get some exercise and try to drop some weight.
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We are both waiting for the sun to gain in strength and the yard work to begin. Gardening is something that I enjoy. It helps keep me mobile and occupied during the summer months too.

During the winter, I began another project. I like to concentrate on cooking, so I designed and programmed my own website where I have placed lots of recipes at www.todaysamazingrecipes.com you can click on the link or on the photo below. it should take you there.

www.todaysamazingrecipes.com

If you would like, become a member by clicking on the member icon on the home page and sign up.  At the moment, it is set up to work with a desktop computer, Ipad and now cell phones.

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In early March we decided that we were not driving anywhere close to what we were before retirement, so we came to the conclusion that we no longer needed two vehicles. Apart from saving a heck of a lot on maintenance, gas and insurance, we could no longer justify the expense of two vehicles so we are now down to the truck which is comfortable and more spacious for longer journeys.  

Some former clients of ours from Calgary, arrived this week with the intention or finding a property they could buy here in Courtenay. It's a hot market here and getting hotter as prices rocket in Vancouver and Victoria and people flock to the Comox Valley in order to get into the less expensive market.

We have seen an enormous increase in the price of houses here in the past three years. Whereas then, it was commonplace to see property for the mid $400's in Crown Isle where we live, there is rarely a house to be seen under about $550,000 and most are in the $700,000 - $850,000 range. That's how much prices here have increased and how the pressure has been on the market here.

Unfortunately, multiple offers seem to be the norm. in today's market, but yesterday, our friends inked  a deal on a home here. They are very happy.

It's Good Friday today, so Donna and I have a couple of things left to do then we can look forward to having two Calgary couples here for Easter Sunday Dinner. We are really looking forward to it.

We will keep it short and wish you all a very Happy Easter.