Thursday ; Cloudy, +1° C.
By design, another lazy day of rest. We both have considerably less stamina, due to age, I suppose. <sigh>
I again made another excellent Eggs Benedict concoction for supper tonight. On a focaccia loaf, smoked Chinook salmon for me, sliced ham for Joanne, avocado slices, fried eggs, topped with Hollandaise sauce. Baked beans on the side. Pretty darn good !
After supper I made another fire in the fireplace, using the last few pieces of natural firewood we had. With the new fireplace door gasket installed, and some tips I learned from the man (store owner ?) who served me and repaired the fireplace door, I got the fireplace functioning extremely well. We had a lovely, warming fire while watching another couple of episodes of My Mum, Your Dad.
Friday ; Valentine’s Day
Thin overcast, +4° C. The heavy snowfall of a couple of weeks ago has begun to melt, but with the thick forest surrounding us preventing sunlight from getting through, and the thick formation of ice on the entire driveway, there’s a long way to go !
Again we had a very slow, lazy start to our day. And the day continued in that vein. We continue to feel somewhat trapped indoors by the icy driveway that is impossible to walk on, and impossible to drive on. We’re old, we don’t feel safe either walking or driving on it. Although ... as a Manitoban who learned to drive and got a driver’s license in Winnipeg in the winter of 1970 / 1971 I am more successful at driving back up the driveway than others who live here.
This afternoon I worked on reconciling my January investment statements, and continued slowly plodding my way through the early stages of preparing our income tax returns.
Saturday ; Low overcast / fog, light rain all day, +2° C.
The driveway ice here at Xanadu Estate has melted quite a bit, but still quite a bit more to go. It was slightly less dangerous to walk on today. And this afternoon when we went out I used a shovel to try to break up all the thick ice on the (five car) parking area surrounding our car in its parking spot. I broke some of it up but ... it was about three inches thick ! ! ! I had to stop when my little wifey became angry at me. <whispering> Because my shovelling efforts were resulting in angina !
This afternoon we went out to run a few errands and do a small amount of exploring. First stop was Country Grocer to refill our five gallon water jug. Next stop was Old Farm Market to buy some fruits and vegetables. Then we explored two nearby butcher shops, a coffee and ice cream shop, and a small clothing consignment shop. We were just about to head back home when I realized we needed fuel since we’re headed into Victoria tomorrow, so we continued a short distance into Duncan to refill fuel at Superstore’s Mobil fuel bar.
On the way back home we stopped at the local dog park. Uh-huh ... yes he did. Three times in about five minutes. Go figure !
Before returning to Xanadu Estate we explored the Arbutus Ridge residential neighbourhood that we live adjacent to. Monster homes surrounding a golf course. <shrug> Not what we find appealing.
Sunday ; Light rain all day, +2° C. in Cobble Hill, +7° C. in Victoria.
Much like shutting the barn door after the horse has left ... my recent research ... a year too late ... of the temperature variance between Cobble Hill and Victoria ... confirmed today ... is that Cobble Hill is 5° C. colder than Victoria every day !
We left our suite at noon today, dog and picnic lunch in tow, heading for a play at the beautiful Belfry Theatre in downtown Victoria at 2 PM. At the higher elevations of the Malahat Highway, both heading to Victoria between noon and 1 PM, and returning to Cobble Hill between 4 PM and 5 PM, the driving conditions in cloud / thick fog plus rain were less than ideal. It was quite a bit warmer in Victoria, and there was no snow left. As opposed to the ice still coating Xanadu Estate’s driveway and parking area.
Parking is scarce around the Belfry Theatre. We arrived early enough in Victoria (about 1 PM) to be able to get one of the few parking spots available at a high school near the theatre. We ate our picnic lunch in the car, I walked Apollo, and at 1:30 PM we left him in the car and walked the short distance to the theatre.
Today’s performance was a play entitled Behind The Moon, a story with three characters, all of whom are immigrants from India in Canada. One is young, perhaps around thirty, one is middle aged, perhaps mid-forties, and one is older, perhaps around sixty. The play is over the top dramatic, and most of the audience seemed to love it. We certainly didn’t !
Apollo was alone in the car for over 2½ hours. Very good dog, Apollo !
We did a teensy bit of exploring on our way home. We detoured off the highway shortly before reaching Mill Bay onto back roads to find the ferry terminal for the Mill Bay to Brentwood Bay ferry across Saanich Inlet. Brentwood Bay is on the Saanich peninsula about halfway between Victoria and the Swartz Bay ferry terminal to Vancouver. We will take that ferry if and when we visit Butchart Gardens near Brentwood Bay. Then we drove a short distance beyond Xanadu Estate to find Hatch Point, which turned out to be nothing more than a closed entrance to a closed wildlife preservation area.
We spent the evening reminiscing. HMPH ... like “old folks” do ! HA HA HA !
Monday ; Overcast, intermittent light rain, +4° C.
We left home after an early lunch heading into Duncan to attend a CPR / AED training course.
We first had CPR training about forty years ago. Then again about twenty years ago, in Yuma, Arizona, a new course taught by doctors and professors from the University of Tucson who had recently “invented” the concept of chest compression only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CCO CPR), now the CPR standard in the United States. Apparently not so in Canada !
The instructors were two young (high school age) women. They were not very good ! One had such a soft voice she was impossible to hear above the other noises going on around us. After a few minutes of us struggling to hear her, her partner took over. The second instructor was very pleasant, and easy to hear , but ... her knowledge and skills of CPR were ... poor. She made mistakes about positioning of hands on patient’s chest that Joanne corrected. And she made mistakes about cadence that I corrected. And she seemed to completely misunderstand the rationale behind CCO (chest compression only) CPR, believing that it existed simply to avoid transfer of germs during mouth to mouth resuscitation.
Last spring I enrolled us in a CPR / AED training course in Lac du Bonnet (Manitoba). It was cancelled due to insufficient enrolment. I enrolled again in a course scheduled last fall. It also was cancelled due to lack of enrolment. We live in a condominium community filled with elderly people. Prime candidates for heart attacks. And our condominium building has an AED (automated electronic defibrillator) mounted in the “community room”. We aren’t sure whether anybody in the building really knows how to operate it. And since our suite is closest to the community room, and ... I certainly would hate to lose my life because Joanne doesn’t know how to operate an AED ... it struck me as prudent that she and I learn how to use an AED machine. While a neighbour or spouse is lying on the floor dying of a heart attack might not be the best time to start reading the AED’s instructions for the first time and figuring out how to use the AED.
After the training course we stopped at Superstore to replenish a few groceries. Then we stopped at the Cobble Hill dog park on the way home. Yes, yes ... he did. The first time within about ten seconds of entering the gate, while he was still being greeted (sniffed) by all the other dogs. And again about two minutes later. At which point he was ready to leave and go home because it was raining lightly. What a pussy ! HA HA HA !
In the evening I lit a fire in the fireplace and we watched the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special.
Tuesday ; Overcast, +4° C. in Cobble Hill. HMPH ... +9° C. in Duncan !
About 3 PM we left our suite to head a few km. down backroads to explore the nearby seaside touristy village of Cowichan Bay. Joanne had some places she wanted to check out ; restaurants, museums, bakery, etc. It was a lovely and interesting town. Probably a very busy tourist area in the summer. Joanne bought a loaf of rye bread in the “all natural” bakery. We stopped at a waterfront park to wander around. There was a skateboard park / BMX bicycle course on the waterfront. It reminded me of the many “Bo-gility” parks that we visited all over North America, taking our previous dog Bo for “agility” play sessions. I thought today we could have an “Apollogility” play session. Yeah ... NO ... Apollo thought that was stupid. HA HA HA ... chacun à son goût, je suppose.
We continued on backroads until reaching the highway, then continued a short distance into Duncan where we did some “Wal-Martin’”. <sigh>
AND ... <sputter> ... nineteen days after arriving here at Xanadu Estate the guests’ laundry facility remains out of order ! We’re not pleased ! ! !
Wednesday ; Thin overcast, sun trying to peek through, +7° C.
Late this morning, before having lunch, we took all our recyclables to a local recycling depot. On the day that we arrived here another guest had advised us that there was no “on site” collection of recycling, and if we were “recyclers” we would have to collect and sort our own, and take it to the local recycling depot. DONE ! On the way back home we stopped at the nearby RONA (home and hardware) store and I went in to do some price checking / comparison.
This afternoon I loaded nine versions of “buy Canadian” apps to our cellphone, Joanne and I tested each one, and selected the one that worked best and easiest for us, deleting the rest. <rolling eyes> Just because someone knows how to “write code” doesn’t make them an effective software designer.
DSK
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