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Turns out that – following my last post on the subject of Arctic Outflows – there is much more to say on the subject of the weather. The ‘event‘ (meaning as far as I can tell ‘stuff out of the ordinary‘) referred to in that post is still ongoing, but here is the tale thus far.

On Friday we had our first dusting of snow – merely a taster as it turned out – and the first day of high winds. The forecast for the weekend promised more serious snow to come and The Girl advised me (to no resistance at all on my part) that I should try to get the snow tyres fitted to the Lexus. This I duly did and it turned out to be a really smart move.

On the Saturday our power was out for a couple of hours in the morning but we were – as so often – amongst the lucky ones; others lost power for more than twenty four hours!

Come Sunday afternoon the serious snow set in and everything started to disappear under a proper blanket of white. Another snow storm swept across Greater Victoria on Monday and a third this morning (Tuesday). The forecast looks more promising for the second part of the week, but there is a lot of snow on the ground (and on everything else) which I can’t see disappearing any time soon.

So – here are a whole bunch of snow pictures. We don’t get that much of it here so it is a source of serious fascination.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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Back in the good old UK understanding the weather used to be straightforward… or at least so it seemed when ‘I were a nipper’. It rained (a lot) or the sun shone (no – honestly, it did!). The most technically complex weather situation with which one might be faced was an Occluded Front – and no-one bar the swotty people even pretended to know what one of those was.

But here I am – new continent – new weather! And at this time of life too…

So – over ‘t’other side’ of the nation there was recently a lot of snowy unpleasantness caused by a Polar Vortex. When that (whatever it might be) trundled away to the west (towards us, in other words) we were apparently to be subjected to an Arctic Outflow. I guess we do things differently on this coast.

Anyway – it turns out that this meant a whole shed-load of snow, followed by a couple of days of violent winds from the north. Hmmm! Nasty!

This is what it looked like:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid
The good ship ‘Dignity‘ was happy to be safely tucked away down the side of our house…

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid…and with the forecast for the next week or so suggesting more of the same it seemed to be a good idea to get the winter tyres re-installed on the Lexus.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidApparently they like a bit of an outing once a year!

 

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…with apologies to those gentle readers who don’t have the good fortune to live in Victoria BC (or are currently holidaying in Mexico!)…

Click the images for the big picture!

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

It’s the second week of January. Must be time to take the boat for a spin!

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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“Not many those mornings trod the piling streets: an old man always, fawn-bowlered, yellow-gloved and, at this time of year, with spats of snow, would take his constitutional to the white bowling green and back, as he would take it wet or fine on Christmas day or Doomsday.”

Dylan Thomas – A Child’s Christmas in Wales

Our Christmas Day constitutional was to Island View Beach. There was no snow and the sun broke through in a most pleasant manner…

Very lovely!

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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A necessary adjunct to my last posting:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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Where do Christmas Trees come from?

Well – in our case from the Saanichton Christmas Tree Farm!

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidAs you can see they don’t just do Christmas Trees – but that is a big part of their annual turnover.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidWe chose our Christmas Tree some three or four weeks ago. Here it is growing happily in a rather boggy paddock – with our tag on it.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidThe farm lends the eager customer a saw and the latter sets forth for the far reaches of the estate to try to locate the chosen tree. There he or she appropriates a lumberjack stereotype for a brief period, being careful to cut the tree at least a foot (two branches) above ground level so that it can regrow for future plaid-clad wannabees. Unlike our days back in Buckinghamshire, when I used to collect our Christmas Tree in Pearl (our classic Mercedes convertible – with the top down!) here in BC it is unceremoniously lashed on top of the Lexus. Not terribly dignified, but ’tis but a short run home!

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid…and here is it in our drawing room waiting to be ‘dressed’.

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

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There are those – particularly across the pond – who think that if it is winter – and if it is Canada – then it must be snowing!

To be fair, some Canadians (though somewhat less on the West Coast) do little to disabuse outsiders of such views.

Here on the island the closing months of the year are far more likely to look like…  well – like this:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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More autumnal images. Although it has rained a fair bit in recent weeks the weather here on the island has been surprisingly mild and balmy. Today the sun shone and it was 14 degrees C! A nice day for a walk…

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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“October is a symphony of permanence and change.”

Bonaro W. Overstreet

Images from the Fall… (double click for the full effect!)

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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“Walking is man’s best medicine.”

Hippocrates

We live in such a blessed corner of this bosky peninsula that we are surrounded within a few miles on all sides by an abundance of places in which to walk – many of which we have not yet had time to explore. Both of these walks – enjoyed just the other day – are within a mile or so of our front door:

This is the small but beautiful park at Coles Bay – on the west side of the peninsula.

Feeling in need of more vigorous exercise than was afforded by Coles Bay Regional Park we went on to visit John Dean Provincial Park, which lies just above us here on our slope of the peninsula’s backbone. This park is extensive and we will have to take more time to explore it properly in the not too distant future. For now it offered us a much needed workout.

Being a local high point (in the sense of altitude if no other) the park houses a variety of mysterious installations:

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