YIKES!

Gee, talk about karma coming back to bite you in the butt!

I've tried to be not too in-your-face with friends and family back in the US, with regard to our mild weather here on Vancouver Island, but now Mother Nature has smacked me one upside the head. Or I should say all of us in the Victoria area.

We've been on the cold side of things for a couple of weeks now, locked into some misguided arctic cold air mass that just won't MOVE! It has wreaked havoc, I am sure, on some of the plants in the garden that are not really set up for frigid temps for an extended period of time. Even the greenhouse, which is not heated yet, has felt the pain of the coldness. We discovered some louvres on the side had blown open and frozen, creating a opening for cold air to just pour in. There are a couple of palms in the greenhouse as well as some Cannas that I had dug up and placed there to winter over. We found it so cold inside that there was frost on the INSIDE of the glass! A few strips of duct tape later problem is solved and the louvres are secured, somewhat. Finally today we had SUNSHINE so I am hoping it warmed up in the greenhouse sufficiently to prevent the plants from freezing out.

Then, on top of the cold, we have been getting SNOW! And quite a bit of it too! Victoria and the neighboring towns don't seem to be too well set up for snow removal so we have to just kinda wait it out, I guess. My car has been down at the main road since Friday evening because the paved road up the hill, that we share with seven other homes, is snow packed and passable only if you have four wheel drive, which I don't. We tried in vain several times to navigate the road and I can make it up maybe half of the first incline, which isn't even close to the house. A neighbor graciously offered a spot to park on their drive down below so we have been there for a few days. We were even home today because the roads were just way too slick to attempt to get to work. There was a lot of melting this afternoon and we are planning on work for Tuesday and hopefully we can get up to the house Tuesday night. There is snow but the tracks from folks that are getting up and down the road have worn down to pavement most of the way so I am hopeful. Now we have to find chains for the cars so we are ready the next time. Although I am told by various sources that the last time they had this much snow here was 1996.

Here are some pics of the yard after the snowfall.

My advice if you are moving here from a cold climate - don't be too hasty to get rid of the snow shovels/tires/blowers. You just might need them when you get here. Even Vancouver was not immune and got hit with the snow.

A teaser for some Christmas fun!

You can go to YouTube for the rest of it. I just wanted to get you started!

Hmmm...what do you think?

Food for thought? YOU BET!!

Found this online and thought I'd share. It really is something to think about. I know WE have changed some food habits since moving to the West Coast but you can do this no matter where you live. It's all about being a better informed consumer and making the right choices!

The 5 Dirtiest Foods

How would you rate your food-safety IQ? I know someone who never washes their fruits and vegetables after bringing them home from the market because he believes that they're washed at the store. Um, no. Read on to learn about what some call the "5 dirtiest foods" and for a food safety wake-up call...

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The dirty food list, according to this fascinating piece I found over at AOL Health include the following:

Eggs: While most eggs aren't going to make anyone sick, experts estimate that more than 2 million germy eggs (as in Salmonella infected) get into circulation each year, sickening 660,000 people each year and killing as many as 300. Um, maybe we should think twice about eating that cookie dough (or, judging by our conversation on Vitamin G, perhaps you'd rather take your chances?). How to buy cleaner eggs? Make sure the carton says they're pasteurized and never buy a dozen that contains any obvious cracks or leaks.

Peaches: They're pretty, but that's just skin-deep. Health experts warn that peach skins are doused in pesticides before they make it to grocery store to prevent blemishes. On average, a peach can contain as many as nine different pesticides, according to the USDA. This is one fruit you might want to buy organic (which may have blemishes, but won't have pesticides). (Here's How Peaches Can Help You Build Muscle.)

Pre-packaged salad mixes: Surprise! "Triple washed" doesn't mean germ-free say experts. Pathogens may still be lurking so be sure to wash your greens before tossing in your salad bowl. (Don't make these salad mistakes!)

Melons: Get ready to be grossed out. According to the article, "when the FDA sampled domestically grown cantaloupe, it found that 3.5 percent of the melons carried Salmonella and Shigella, the latter a bacteria normally passed person-to-person. Among imported cantaloupe, 7 percent tested positive for both bugs." Ewww. Your best bet: Scrub your melons with a little mild dish soap and warm water before slicing. (Stay healthy with these delicious winter fruits!)

Scallions: Blamed for several recent outbreaks of Hepatitis A, and other bugs like the parasite Cryptosporidium, Shigella and Salmonella, scallions present a food safety problem because of the way they grow (in the dirt) and lack of proper washing. While you can't control what happens in restaurant kitchens, you can give them a super-duper washing at home before cooking with.

Other dirty foods in the article include chicken, ground beef and turkey, raw oysters, and cold cuts. Click here to read 5 more.

The bottom line: Don't be afraid to eat these foods, just be aware of the precautions you need to take before enjoying them. Most food-borne illnesses are the result of hygiene carelessness somewhere in the food chain. Protect yourself!

Hmmmm....

So, I'm reading other blogs, comparing them to mine, sorta, and I feel like I am SO out of the loop on how to communicate on my blog. Other people either lead VERY interesting lives or just have a knack for describing everyday things in the most colorful way. I gotta work on my technique.

And maybe add some relevant Canadian stuff, as my header above would indicate is contained herein but one has to really search for it.

Crazy day at work today. The Jan/Feb issue of Small Farm Canada is set to mail at the end of this month. I am taking a crack at getting the mailing lists of active subscribers ready to go to the printer. I've only done this once before so I still need assistance. All went fairly well and Thursday the info will be off to the printer, first thing in the morning. Then it's back to normal, for a while.

The weather lately has been cool and gray, temps mid 40's F/8-9 C. Today it turned sunny in the afternoon and got up to 54 degrees F at the house - WONDERFUL! But - you knew there had to be a but, right - the forecast for the upcoming weekend is calling for much colder temps with SNOW in the forecast. Of course that was a Vancouver station, and they tend to get a LOT more precipitation than we do on the Island, so I'm crossing my fingers that we avoid the Snow Monster.

I started to bring out some of the Christmas decor. The mantle is now set up, sorta, and I decided we need a bigger mantle. HA! For a few years we had been buying yearly specialty ornaments from HRC in the US (Human Rights Commission). Sad news, so far, is that I can only find four ornaments - two each of two different designs. That means we are 'missing' 2 or 3 others. At almost $40 each that is not good. I'm hoping they are 'buried' in one of the boxes yet to be opened - NOT left back in the US and off to Goodwill in the Christmas stuff that didn't make it here. One of my Hallmark muscle car collector ornaments also went missing last year so the search will be on for that one too. If there remains a gap in my string of 18 years then it will be off to e-bay. Gee, how I miss e-bay.

LED holiday lights are all the rage here in Canada and at 95% less electricity usage it's easy to understand why. We bought one set last year and it illuminates a curio cabinet all year long. They give off a great sparkle and even after hours of being on there is no heat off the bulbs to speak of! They really are amazing. I think we are off to purchase more this weekend, to outfit the tree. Saves on the electric bill and no heat means less danger of the tree catching fire. Now we just have to find what store will take our old sets in as trade and give us $$ off new sets.

On the LED topic we are searching for LED track lights to replace some old ugly halogen models we have in the kitchen and dining room. Halogens give off so much heat and use so much electricity that we really want them gone. Problem is finding LED track lights. OY!

Even with Winter coming the garden still looks fab - all lush and green with a bit of Fall color on some plants tossed into the mix. I found someone in Sooke that is closing out shrubs for the season and they still have a great selection, and at really good prices. Skimmia is on the top of my list to buy. I saw some in a public garden, in full bloom, and the smell was absolutely intoxicating! Maybe by the front door, to greet the occasional visitor. Our Fatsia Japonica is yet to bloom. The flower stalk just keeps reaching higher but no flowers are open yet. The rhododendrons are looking very good, all setting up buds for Spring. Two dwarf models, near the front door, were very yellow and sad looking when we moved in. I've given them a few shots of Mir-Acid over the summer and they are now a gorgeous green with buds all set to go in the Spring. I guess I'm doing something right, eh?

Thanks for tuning in and please click on the button on the left to Help the Animals.

Some holiday entertainment.

I just found this and had to share! I can not even imagine the amount of energy needed for this, but it sure is fun to watch.

All is well.

We recently had the 'children' to the Dr for their annual checkups. The first one here, Bitsy, seen lounging in her new favorite spot above a heater, weighed in at a whopping 5.9 pounds and, due to her age of 13, we decided to have a blood workup done for her. The Vet called with the good news that she is in great shape and all the internal organs are functioning just fine. Cats can tend to develop kidney issues late in life and that is one thing that was on my mind. We were quite relieved at the good news that all was well.




The second shot here is of Sydney. She has been losing some weight since we changed her food back in May, to an all natural food from right here in BC, and the Vet has been a bit concerned, especially when you factor in her Addisons disease. Apparently the food is much better for her and has caused her to drop some of what little fat there is and develop more muscle. The medication she is on has worked wonders at managing her Addisons, and with just five little pills a day. Of course that is for the rest of her life but she is very happy and energetic, a far cry from when we almost lost her at the onset of the disease. We just have to make sure she has plenty of water, and no more bananas for her, seeing that they are high in potassium and her system does not process that quite the way it should. Instead we treat her with an occasional egg and some canned tuna, which is high in salt - something she is lacking.


This is a shot I took from the deck just the other day. I got home from work in the afternoon and was just rummaging around the house when I glanced out a window and saw this beam of sunlight piercing the cloud cover and shining down onto the water. Of course I grabbed my little digital camera and clicked off a few pictures. Even with Winter approaching it seems there is always something different to look at out on the water. Most days we don't even see the mountains across in Washington, a drastic change from the clear days that are strung together to form Summer. When we do see across in the Winter it always brings a sort of sense of relief and wonderment, especially when we see all the snow that has fallen in the higher elevations. Better there than over by us, but then again we are just a couple of hundred feet up from sea level so we really don't worry too much about snow. Wind is more the threat during the intense Winter storms that blow in.