Well here we are, another few weeks have flown by! Not all that much exciting...but I still like to keep a journal for ourselves. Mostly, it's just the usual so I won't bore you with the daily minutia...basically daily morning walks, laundry, shopping, chores around here, etc, etc. Instead, just the "highlights" and some pictures.
Sunday (Oct. 18) was our first frost of the season and only 0.8C/33F...it was a cold and mainly clear start, with just enough cloud to make for a beautiful sunrise...
A Blue Heron having his morning breakfast as we walked along the Airpark/Riverway pathway...
After our morning walk, we stopped at the Canadian Tire store to pick up some antifreeze so we (well, Steve) could winterize the little trailer. It's time with temperatures starting to dip down that low!
The weather the following week was absolutely beautiful...clear and cool but it was sunny. A real change from the usual late October weather! Just the usual "stuff" this week.
Saturday (Oct. 24) we had rain...it started overnight and as predicted, continued all day. It's forecast for the next 2 days...but we really need it! We're still in Stage 3 water restrictions which means no lawn watering, washing vehicles, etc.
For something to do, we decided to take a drive out to Cumberland and Comox Lake to see how low the water was. Comox Lake is the region's water reservoir...and it was extremely low with tree stumps showing. It looked like you could practically walk to the swimming platform in the day-use recreation area.
Photos from Facebook
On the way home, we stopped at the Cumberland Brewery...
The rain continued all night and all day Sunday (Oct. 25) so it was a lazy inside day. We did have visitors stroll by on the bank behind us. There were actually five deer but only four made it into the photo...
That evening we went over to Earl and Allison's for dinner and a few games of Rummikub. Thanks for a great evening guys! Oops...no pictures.
Tuesday morning (Oct. 27) we drove to Seal Bay Nature Regional Park...
The facilities of the new clubhouse here in the park recently opened but the official opening of the whole building was on Wednesday (Oct. 28). It includes offices, laundry, and washrooms with showers. That evening folks living here were invited to gather at the social community room to witness the K'omoks First Nation's opening ceremony. A nice, informal gathering with everyone enjoying a bite to eat. The clubhouse has been given the name 'The Birds Nest'.
Afterwards, we sat around the firepit chatting until it got dark...and the rain started...
Thursday (Oct. 29) was another rainy inside day but on Friday (Oct. 30) we managed to get out for a walk at the Airpark/Riverway path. There's fresh snow in the mountains...
Saturday morning (Oct. 31) we met Earl and Allison for breakfast at the Early Bird Cafe and then loaded our bikes into the back of the truck. We have not used them for a couple of years now so decided to donate them to a non-profit group who refurbish and sell them.
Monday afternoon (Nov. 2) we went for our annual visit to the Puntledge River Fish Hatchery. We watched their informative video inside the main building that explains all the different processes involved at this hatchery...
Viewing room below the holding ponds...
18 second video...
1:14 minute video...
Tuesday morning (Nov. 3) we drove to Brooklyn Creek Park in Comox for our walk...
Fish ladder...
We didn't see any fish in the creek...
A rather majestic looking Bald Eagle on our walk Wednesday morning at the Air Park (Nov. 4)...
And a LeFevre Air Services private executive helicopter charter. I wonder who this was for?
After researching for an RC airfield in the area, Steve had decided to join the RC Aircraft Association Comox Valley (RCAA) and get back into flying his plane. That afternoon, he went out to meet Mike, the club president at his house and got a tour of his workshop. When the weather improves they hope to get out flying.
Still some beautiful fall colours on our walk Thursday morning (Nov. 5)...
Friday (Nov. 6) we had the first of the big storms of the season with many more on the way with major rain and winds gusting to 81km/h! Apparently our power had been out overnight. Later when I got home from picking up a few groceries early in the afternoon, Steve was out getting the generator going. The power had already been off for about an hour and a half but did come back on 30 minutes later. So Steve turned the generator off and put it away. Premature obviously, because just before 4:00, the power went out again...so the generator came out again. The power didn't come back on until just before 9:30.
Saturday morning (Nov. 7) we managed to get out before the rain started up again. Steve spotted a raccoon curled up in a ball sleeping in a tree. There was also a young eagle perched above it but no photo taken...
We had Earl and Allison over for dinner and played marbles afterwards...another lovely evening but again, no pictures.
There had been more rain and wind forecast for this evening but we had lots of rain, with very little wind...yay! The Puntledge River has definitely risen.
Sunday morning (Nov. 8) we woke up to more rain. By the time we were ready to go out the sun had come out...so we figured we could get out for a walk. We drove to the Air Park/Riverway parking lot and it was sunny with some sprinkles being blown in...no problem, it will stop. Well, that wasn't the case! The big ominous looking clouds that we thought were going away, ended up coming in, covering the sun, and it started raining harder and harder. We turned around but we had already gone a fair distance so by the time we got back to the car, we were soaked. Steve had his umbrella which he managed to keep up even in the wind...I had my raincoat hood as I couldn't carry an umbrella as well as use my hiking poles.
Before the downpour, we did see some awesome rainbows...
Monday (Nov. 9) we went back to Nymph Falls Nature Park for our walk and my goodness, the recent windstorms had really left it's mark! Not only were there tons of small branches and twigs down on the trails, but also a lot of trees down too!
But we made it to our destination...
We woke to rain and wind Wednesday (Nov. 11)...well, actually it woke me numerous times throughout the night. As was predicted, with our third storm in the last week we had major winds predicted at 45km/h-85km/h and rain all day! I had laundry that needed to be done and as I was putting it on at the new laundry room here in the park, I realized that there was a good possibility of the power going out...funny how I didn't think about it until after I had it on, ugh! So the next couple of hours were spent hoping it would be done before we had any power outage. Luckily, it was fine...but the power did flicker a couple of times.
We would normally have walked up to the Cenotaph to partake in the Remembrance Day Ceremonies but with the weather so ugly, we decided to watch the Victoria ceremony instead on TV.
