Our Year In Summary.

As we prepare for our first Christmas on Vancouver Island we wanted to drop a line to our families and friends across the miles to wish you all a wonderful time during the coming festive season. 

Looking back on the year, it's been a mixed bag, one that in some cases came quickly and other times really dragged. 

The quick part was February when handover day was upon us for our Mesquite home purchased by a really nice couple from Colorado Mike and Kathy. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did guys.

The part that dragged was the three months once we had departed the U.S., found a house, made an offer and had it accepted. Living out of suitcases for a further three months while waiting to take possession on our home on Vancouver Island was a real pain but we broke up the time by renting a place for a month only meters away from the home we had just purchased, followed by a further month at a resort 80 kms south and then a short visit back to Calgary to collect our final items.

While we do miss the many friends we have made in Sun City Mesquite we know in our hearts we will see all our friends again relatively soon.  

Of course there are some benefits to not owning a home in the US;

- first we now have the freedom to travel wherever we want instead of feeling we have to go to one particular place every time. Australia, Europe and the Caribbean are still on our bucket list.

- the second and more obvious benefit is that we don't have  the upkeep, heating and cooling costs, homeowner association fees and taxes associated with a second home any longer. 

- last but by no means least the third advantage is that since we started to travel more often and stay away for longer periods we have noticed that the costs of health travel insurance has inched up every year. As you pass the 65 year mark it seems to increase incrementally from there so now, we can avoid those added costs.  

We have spoken to other Canadian Snowbirds who are also noticing the cost of the Travel Health Insurance increases. As a result many of them are travelling less or spending less time down in the US when they do travel in order to lessen the impact of those associated costs. 

Some Snowbirds in our area have told us that this is the last year they will go south for the winter, especially with the dollar being where it is.   

Of course there is still so much more to see south of the 49th parallel and although we have enjoyed our time In Nevada we look forward to visiting other places like New Mexico, Louisiana, South and North Carolina, Tennessee and the Gulf side of Florida which we missed when we visited there before.

I have been in shorts since our arrival on the Island in March. We still enjoy walks around Crown Isle where we live and even now as I write this blog  beginning December 1, It has only been a couple of times I have donned sweatpants to walk in. Some locals are still wearing shorts so we will have to see what January brings.  

During October we drove north to two of the most northerly towns on the Island - Port McNeil a community of 2500 residents and Port Hardy with a population of 4000. It's pretty remote up there to say the least. 

It seems fishing, whale-watching and hunting are some of the things to do there and of course there's lots of natural beauty to take in such as Bald Eagles, Wolves, Cougar, Deer, Bears and much more.  

On our drive up two months ago, we saw a large black bear catching Salmon in a river just a few meters away from the road. The bear was completely impervious to the vehicles passing over the bridge. Now that, is nature at its best.

We still enjoy the Humming birds at the feeder every morning. They will probably remain throughout the winter provided we continue to feed them. They are gorgeous birds especially the males with their iridescent red colouring around their necks that changes colour and flashes when the sunlight hits their feathers at different angles. 

We have dozens of them around our feeder all day every day. Below are a couple. The photo immediately below is a male. The one below that is a female.

Now here's a "Did you know" point of interest.  

Did you know that the hummingbird is the ONLY Bird in the world that can fly backwards AND can fly upside down.

This is a red headed male. The head and throat shine a brilliant iridescent Red in the sunshine

This is a female.  

Tragedy Strikes Vacationers on Vancouver Island.

On October 25 tragedy struck Vancouver Island when five Britons and an Australian drowned as the 60 foot fishing boat taking 27 people out whale watching was breached by a rogue wave.

Some accounts say that the boat had undergone some modifications and many of the people were on the upper deck and over on the port side of the boat which shifted the boat's centre of gravity. 

Locals and passengers say that when the wave came, the unbalanced loading of passengers on the upper deck on the port (left) side as you look forward, made the boat unstable. It tipped and capsized 15 kms north of Tofino off the Island's west coast. 

Our hearts go out to the families back in the UK and Australia who lost family members and friends. It took three weeks to locate the Australian. He was found by people diving on Nov 18. 
  

We are happy to say that as of now we have not purchased a snow shovel and we sincerely hope we won't have to - after all we moved away from Calgary not only to rid ourselves of the crowds, but also to avoid the cold snowy winters. 

We have shot the occasional glances at the snow shovels as we pass by them in the aisles at Home Depot and Canadian Tire but we would really like to try to get through one winter without having to shovel anything. Having never achieved that in the 32 years I have lived in Canada, it might be a tall order to expect anything to change. One can only hope and stay positive.

The locals all tell us that if it does snow, it is normally gone in a day, so we will keep the status quo right now and avoid the temptation to buy a shovel........yet.

November arrived with warm winds and fairly nice weather. All-of-a-sudden Donna's birthday was upon us as she officially became a "Senior Citizen". Hey!  she's OK with it too. Good for her. 

Unfortunately, she fell quite ill on her birthday which was spent huddled in a chair in front of the fireplace - A flu bug we thought. 

She had been given a birthday present by her cousin (a gift voucher for supper at a superb steak house close to home). So that she would enjoy it to the fullest degree possible we held off going until she felt much better. 

One bonus to being a senior is that now, we both get a 50% discount (on the passenger portion only) of BC Ferries Monday to Thursdays because we are now BC residents. 

Actually, I would swap the discounts for some letup in the creaking bones and muscle aches that come with the territory but that's life as they say.

During the rainy days, we have lots of opportunity to work on things we would not normally have time to work on. I like to cook and do the yard work and recently, I built myself a very strong work-bench in the garage. Donna is right at home in her "she cave" making herself clothes on her new sewing machine.

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One thing we do together is to create or rather re-create interesting recipes we find on-line. 

Since we moved into our home in June we have cooked up some tasty morsels and food types such as:



- Various types of breads (including most recently Rye Bread)
- German Rolls (Brötchen)
- Cinnamon Buns
- Ukranian Cabbage Rolls
- Jam
- Candied Jalapeños (often referred to as Cowboy Candy)
- Indian Lime Pickles
- Biriyanis (an Indian Rice and meat dish)
- Pakoras (Indian Vegetables made with delicious spices &   hot peppers)
- Curries
- Home made Samosas (an Indian speciality)
- Home made Pizza
- Original Cornish Pasties.
- The original British Christmas Puddings (giveaways) 

Almost everything worked out well. All in all we are pleased with the results.

My next project is to cook the perfect Paella. We had it when we were in the Dominican Republic and I loved it. 

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With the shopping for Christmas now complete, it is time give some consideration to helping the less fortunate over the Christmas season. 

We have purchased two frozen turkeys. One we will donate to a family or a food bank. We will also see what we can spare out of the pantry to donate to the needy. 

We are thinking that the local food bank might be the way to go so that Christmas Dinner is spread around more evenly on Christmas Day.

Left to Right Bill Mackie, Alan Wills (RIP), Anthony Forbes (RIP), Eddie Humphreys (RIP) and Ken Carter

We were just four NCO's and an Officer who loved the outdoors and mountaineering. We ran the Outward Bound Wing at the Junior Guardsman's Company in Pirbright back in the UK in the 70's. 

My dear friend Eddie Humphreys (green shirt above) and I spent many months and even years walking and climbing together in the mountains of the Canadian Rockies, in the Jottunheim (Norway) and throughout Scotland, England and Wales. 

Eddie passed away earlier this year due to a condition of Lewey Body Disease (a form of Dementia). Ed. was just 66 years old. The disease came quickly and thankfully Eddie did not suffer too much. 

Our thoughts go out to Jackie, Ed's wife and to his son Phil., especially at this time of the year. Best wishes to both of you for what we can only imagine will be a difficult time this Christmas season without your husband and dad. 

Eddie, Rest in peace. Our thoughts are with you all. 

Bill (far left above) and myself (far right) are the only two or the five of us still alive today. Luckily, I was able to locate Bill through a Facebook friend. I found out that Bill lives with his wife Ina in the southern part of the UK. I managed to make contact with them through Facebook just a couple of months ago. Merry Christmas Bill and Ida.

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In closing, we would both like to wish you all sincerely, a wonderful Christmas and a happy, healthy and safe 2016.

Ken and Donna