5C's Que Pasa

Fires and more fires and now we have ash falling.

Thursday afternoon I looked out my window and saw smoke.

Yes that is the mountain we see out our window.  I watched it all afternoon.  The irony of it, is that Thursday afternoon was our first smoke free period in five full days.  We watched the fire grow to 30 hectares and now it is at 194 hectares.  During the evening we could see the fire glow while we sat in our living room.  This particular fire is not near any homes or structures.

Got this off the internet. Good shot.  The lights in the foreground are Kelowna.

The fire south of us near Oliver flared up again and a number of folks were evacuated last night. The have already had 30 homes destroyed.  The fires south of the border shows no sign of slowing down and continue to creep North.  It is depressing.  I said it before, I can’t begin to image how much worse it is further south of here.  We are all tired of the smoke.  Having to have the A/C on in order to not choke from the smell is just one depressing thing to deal with.

Right now today we have had a heavy rain shower which will help clear some of the smoke.  Sadly we have thunderstorms and strong winds forecast for the next few days. The fire crews are bracing themselves for the onslaught.  In fact we have showers till Wednesday and then cloud till next Saturday.  Colin is already talking about a second delay to our trip south, perhaps to mid November.  We need to work in order to have the pesos to head down to Mexico.  He already has more work than he can physically do in the next two months.  So we are using our time right now to do things like get the car ( the HHR ) serviced for the trip.  This afternoon we are going over to the RV to sort out things.  The generator got serviced last week and now we need to replace all the batteries as well as the battery tray.  It isn’t pulling out any longer, likely due to rust from the ocean mixed with the dust from ‘the road’.  By the way, I got an email from a friend spending the summer on the Isla and she reports that ‘the road is terrible’.  Just might not be so bad to let others arrive ahead of us and sort things out.

Sunset a few nights ago.

This was yet another smokey sunset.

Last night we had about two hours smoke free before we got socked in again. We did get a beautiful sunset out of it.

I am never short of things to post about but I just didn’t feel like posting.  Really getting tired of living in grey tones.

Thanks to one of my readers for sending this to me. Appreciate it Cat.

Can’t end this post without a smile 😀

UPDATE *******  Rae made a comment about getting smoke two Provinces over.  Here is the latest info on how far reaching the smoke is.  We are located just a bid to the left of Cranbrook and North a hair.

Today I got an urge, a very large urge and longing to get to the Isla.  Must be the smoke.  Yes it continues but I keep thinking of those who are right there and how much worse it must be.  Very sadly both Christina Lake and Grand Forks have been issued evacuation alerts.  The US fire is approaching the border.  There has been little to no air to ground firefighting due to the smoke and now there is a possibility of calling back ground crew due to the situation because of the prevailing winds becoming stronger.

A few weeks ago when it was really hot I took the girls for a ride in the golf cart. They love to sit and watch the world go by. If they had a choice they would prefer to be driven around every day.

I caught this quail family by chance.  They move so fast that getting a shot is near impossible.

I had a meeting in Kelowna this morning and on the way back I tuned into a radio talk show midway.  It was about a recent poll done here in B.C. which indicated that the Conservatives were losing their lead and the NDP were gaining ground.  What really rocked me was a casual comment about yet another new election rule I knew nothing about.  For the first time ever, when the polls close back East, the media will be able to report on the results right away without waiting for the polls to close in B.C.  What that means is that someone here in B.C. just heading out to the polls after work or after dinner will be able to listen to the Eastern results due to the 3 hour time difference.  Don’t you think that those results will affect the final outcome?  Of course they will.  BC voters will have the final say and could easily change the way they vote based on what they hear in the news before heading out to vote.   Food for thought.

First time I have seen spaghetti squash growing upright.

The little flower that could. How did the seed get onto our beach? A wee bird I suspect. I did grow these about three years ago but I can’t see how the seed could have survived in the lake. Our beach is larger than normal due to the dry conditions but this area is normally under water.

That’s it for tonight folks.  Have a great evening.  I am surprised to see Shakespeare’s name attached to the following words.  Doesn’t seem to be his style of writing. What do you think 💡

I am beat, having worked non stop for 2 days on estate stuff.  Just when I think it is done something comes along.  I have an ace up my sleeve and just might get it done this week.

Used the stroller today for Carmeh’s walk but she did walk some.  Good news is that she is walking straighter today.

Photo of my parents years back, thanks to my brother.  That is Dad’s handwriting   “Love, True-Love, Forever”.  Sniff!

Very cute photo sent to me by a reader. Looks to be a real setting with real doxies.

Trying to decide if I should bring the window washer back. We are only here another 10 weeks but they could use a wash or could they?  He is over 6 foot something but still has to use a ladder.

Saw this on a walk the other day. I like it.

Well we are still smoked in and it seems we will be until late Saturday when some rain is finally expected.  Meanwhile Colin is cooling his heels.  Not really, he is getting things done like the RV generator annual servicing and hopefully he will build some dog ramps for the RV this weekend. He heard on the radio today that our air quality is worse than Delhi, India.  We’ve been there and that is saying something.

One lovely evening a few weeks back.

That same evening but taken on the street side of our home. The tree on the left is in our old yard.  Yup, that is the tree we brought in on a semi from Vancouver. So lucky that I get to see it every day.

Don’t even want to think about the loonie hitting an 11 year low.  For my US readers that means that every US dollar we spend this winter is going to cost us close to $1.30 CAD 🙁

Thanks for stopping in.  I really appreciate it as well as a comment when you have a moment.  Have a great evening where ever you are.

Carmeh has been holding her own.  However this morning she seemed more unsteady than usual and was very crooked as she walked.  Colin and I were together on the morning walk and just one block in she halted.  So he carried her mostly and we had her walk a few short areas.  In the treed garden area she actually ran so we have no idea what her issue was but when she stopped he carried her.  If it had been just me and the girls there is no way I could have carried her.  So I have since thought about it and likely I would have found someone with a golf cart to take us home or send someone to the office to send help.  Nice to know I now have options for help.

Carmeh buried herself in the middle of the laundry pile yesterday.

If , once the smoke clears I won’t be seeing Colin much till we head south.  I just hope we don’t have to do a second departure delay.  We still had heavy smoke today but not as thick as yesterday.  We could see the lake somewhat.  The forecast is not promising so we just take it day by day, what else can we do?  We are at Nature’s mercy.

Long story short, when we moved in here in the fall of 2012 we had our imported fireplace installed.  It took 2 different tradesman to get it done as the first guy just gave up.  He had no idea what to do.  In the end I had to order the connection from the stack to the roof.  I ordered a round connection piece and received a square one.  If we wanted to leave for Mexico we just had to suck it up and have the square piece installed.

However, that big black box had bothered me since day one.  Colin promised to paint it.  Yeah right 🙄  I had my second hip replaced in 2013.  Last year I was in Edmonton with my Dad for a few months.  So this year was the time to get it done.

Yeah Colin!

First step was to find a paint that could take the heat of the fireplace.  Finally found out that the box is insulated and we could just use regular enamel paint as that high up the heat was not so bad.  Next was to match the color.  Well done Benjamin Moore, our favorite paint supplier.  The most difficult step was finding time for Colin to get up that ladder.  It finally came together a few weeks ago.

Not only did he do a first coat, but a few days later the second and final coat.

Great job Colin. I love the new look and the color is perfect.

We have had 2 perfect days and then it happened.

Just before bed last night the forecast indicated a hint of what might be coming.

There is a monstrous fire, the Stickpin fire in Washington state, burning just 2.5 miles south of the border.  92,000 hectares burned to date.  Colin was supposed to head down that way at 5AM this morning to do some photography.

Instead we awoke to this. Pea soup smoke. We can’t even see the water from our home and we are on the water.

Despite the forecast showing sunshine, this is the best we get.

Yes that is the sun shining bright as can be. Normally I would have the blinds closed by now.

Not sure if we will walk the girls or not today. Likely not, as the smell is very strong and my eyes water just opening the door to take a quick photo.  The smoke factor is a level 10 which means high risk.  Sadly there is a triathlon taking place here in Kelowna.  Obviously the smoke will affect those participating.

Yesterday a special horse race had been scheduled to take place in Osoyoos, with 90% of the horses coming up from the US.  It was cancelled at the last moment because most of the roads in Washington state are closed because of the fire and there was no way to get to the Canadian border.  How very frightening for everyone.

I took this Friday evening because I liked the color of the sky and the clouds. A visual memory.

Yesterday was outstanding with blue sky, sunshine and perfect temperatures.  We were all looking forward to a full week of the same.  I decided to wait till today to go for a long walk and to later sit outside under an umbrella watching the lake.  I blew it, one must live today to the fullest, who knows what tomorrow will bring.  My friend Lynne just posted a very thought provoking blog post on taking charge of one’s life.  Have a read, there is something in it for all of you.