5C's Que Pasa

Jul 18, 2020

Another wee disappointment

In the past few months we have met and become friendly with a couple here in the park. We first met them in early spring when we were planting our gardens and have since run into them during walks or while out in the golf cart. We keep saying that we need to get together. So finally I chose last Thursday day based on the forecast for good weather as we would need to sit outside. They agreed to the time and date.

It turned into another very windy day but then it would calm for a while. We were not sure what to do but finally figured out a seating plan inside just in case. Meanwhile we cleaned inside and out, I even asked the gardener to come earlier in the day if possible as he usually cuts the grass late afternoon Thursday. He cut the grass first thing in the morning and the sun was shining. We knew that they would want to see inside our home so we had a plan for a social distancing tour before heading outside. As we didn’t know what they drank we were prepared for pretty much anything by picking up red wine and beer. There is never a shortage of white wine choices here in house. In Mexico we always have beer in the fridge even if we don’t drink it, along with white wine.

At this point it looked lovely out. Ten minutes later the wind was bending the tree right over and there were white caps on the lake.

I was so pleased with myself for coming up with ways to be able to enjoy fresh cherries and carrots from my garden without touching anything else but the ends of the food. There was also a plate for our special salmon pate waiting to be freshly served.

A cheese plate with four selections.

Not our tomatoes – yet. Individual mini forks to pick up the cheese and fruit.

We were all ready. We knew that they had to help someone with something earlier in the afternoon but they said that 4PM was great. So we patiently waited. Colin called at 5PM and got voice mail but did not leave a message. Finally I called at 5:35PM and did leave a message. They called back at 6:20 and profusely apologized. Apparently they got caught up in something and had totally forgot. Meanwhile we had already enjoyed a bit of cheese and some pate and the rest had been put away.

Alas it was not to be. But we will do it again, perhaps in a few weeks. We have friends arriving here in the park on Monday and we will be busy with them. If you read this Paul, guess what you are getting for happy hour 😛

A few days ago a mini Covid 19 outbreak was announced here in Kelowna. It related directly to a group of young people, in part from the Vancouver area, somewhere in Alberta and the rest of the group was from here. They were all over the downtown area, partying here and there, dining out and not wearing masks nor social distancing. Some You Tube videos have been found. As of yesterday there are now 35 confirmed COVID-19 cases connected to the multiple exposure events in Kelowna in late June and early July. A few gyms may have been affected, a brewery closed its doors today while waiting to test its staff, the same with a winery in Naramata, etc and overall the downtown area is taking a hit. Later yesterday afternoon it was also announced that we have six infected staff at our only hospital. Obviously there is some serious testing being done within the hospital this weekend. There will be an update on Monday.

This is what happens when masks are not worn and people don’t social distance. The more one drinks the quicker intelligence leaves. I wish all partiers could read the following. The photo is of the nurse who wrote the following words. If I was not a mask wearer, the description of what happens in the article would certainly make me want to wear one.

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Jul 16, 2020

Making the best of a disappointment

There is a newish winery in our area. Late last summer I discovered that it had a wood fire pizza oven and that their mini restaurant offers pizza comparable to what you might eat in Naples. We loved the pizza in Naples and yes it was the best ever so we were anxious to try this place. However the timing just did not work out as Colin was busy the last three months before we traveled south to Mexico. So last Saturday, late afternoon, we had a reservation for a wine tasting to be followed with a bottle of wine and hopefully the best ever pizza this side of Naples.

They are very careful and only allow up to six people per tasting every thirty minutes with a thorough cleaning between customers. The tasting is $5.00 each which is waived per bottle purchased.

Just as we started our tasting we were informed that for the first time ever that they had run out of pizza dough – exactly what happened to us once in Naples. Only that time we had waited for two hours only to share a small pizza ( all that we could get ) that was the very best ever. What is unique at Blind Tiger is that they offer four different wines each week to taste. The week prior they had their Pinot Gris on the list and they graciously allowed us to test it as well. Needless to say we were most disappointed that the pizza was not to be. It, more than the wine, was our main purpose in visiting the Blind Tiger Winery.

Most of their outdoor tables were full. Lovely view of Woods Lake.

I asked why the name Blind Tiger and was told that during the days of prohibition and the speakeasies, statues such as a tiger or of a pig were prominent. If the tiger or the pig had a blindfold over their eyes it was not safe to enter. You can just barely make out the white blindfold over this tiger, which is resting on its forehead.

CocaCola for either 5 cents on the side or 7 cents on the front. Interesting antique.

Older vehicle near the washrooms. We were somewhat disappointed at not being able to get dinner and as a result the staff had a discussion and waived our wine tasting fees. Very nice, but still. As we left we headed to our favourite local restaurant hoping for a table on the patio.

Lovely hanging baskets at the Greek House Restaurant but they were full unless we wanted to sit inside.

No, not for us. But then I said hey, lets order take out and so we did.

We had a twenty five minute wait so we went for a ride in the hills above the restaurant. Love that someone has created a book exchange outside their yard on the road.

This was a new area for us to explore and see what there was. We saw some great views of the lake as well as this neat older truck advertising a melon patch.

As we passed the local park on Wood Lake, we observed that there was little social distancing happening.

By the time we got home the wind had picked up and was blowing at 54 gusts to 68km/h. The wind was coming from behind us and you can see the lake being pushed away from us.

We did enjoy our take out, the first time we have had our special Greek meal since early last October. It has been a so so week, but with my slowing down mentally it seems that I just don’t have enough time no energy to get through the day, never mind write a blog. I am beginning to think that perhaps I am depressed about not traveling by air never mind being able to leave Canada this fall. I also received some sad news about a blogger that I read. She received some devastating health news which has thrown me for a loop ( never mind her and and what she is experiencing). I have never met her but I feel like she is a close friend. She is going to stop blogging and will move forward privately which I totally respect but I will miss her so very much 😥

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Jul 12, 2020

Out for a drive

Last Wednesday we both had a visit with the chiropractor in Vernon. It was a good one for both of us. She even managed to fix problem with my right foot which was painful with every step I took. Afterwards we did our weekly grocery shop at Superstore. This is huge new store with lots of space. We seldom come close to anyone while shopping. Next stop was to pick up two cases of wine that I had special ordered.

Apparently my beloved Painted Turtle Pinot Grigio is being discontinued so I am buying it when and where I can. I have no idea why this is happening and I have reached out in many directions to get an answer.

We ended up in a different area of Vernon that I had never been to before. Colin mentioned that the end of Okanagan Lake was just ahead so we went for a drive to check it out. So many lakefront homes, some very old and some new large ones. It is called a fjord lake as it has been carved out by repeated glaciations during the Pleistocene epoch. The lake is large and deep, 84 miles long and between 2.5 – 3.1 miles wide with an average depth of 249 feet.

We drove around the shorter of the two forks at the top of the lake, to the left of Vernon. We live further south in Lake Country but our lake is that very tiny area of blue on Highway 97 just about 1/4 inch below the name Lake Country. Lake Okanagan is spectacular and a wonderful area to drive around.

Many lovely beaches for folks to enjoy at this end of the lake as along its length.

We had a trunk full of empties that we wanted to recycle and the store that I purchased the wine from directed us to this huge recycle facility. They take everything. I was so impressed with all the cars dropping off a variety of items and everyone was so diligent in placing their things in the proper area.. It make me realize how fortunate we are to have the amount of recycling that we have here in our park but at the same time how wonderful that others are making such an effort to properly recycle.

This older lady got got of her car with a plastic bag full of things, tin cans, glass jars, plastic hangers and so on. She walked back and forth being ever so careful to put her item in the correct bin. I was glad that Colin had taken our empties into the building behind the car on his own so I could watch what was happening.

This fellow had come in on a bicycle with some pop/beer cans that he had obviously collected along his route. He then proceeded to thoroughly go through the glass jar bin ( different from the glass bin in this photo ) where he picked out several juice containers that could have been returned for cash but were simply disposed of. So even at the reccyle centre the bins are being recycled a second time. I thought good for him, he made an extra dollar or two.

We had so many veggies from our garden with dinner that night. From the top left clockwise, Swiss chard, beet tops, dark green kale, beans, carrots, peas and a zucchini.

By adding mushrooms and onion to the stir fry of the three greens & zucchini along with store bought romaine & tomatoes we had eleven different vegetables with dinner. It was a great meal.

Isn’t this the truth.

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Jul 10, 2020

Scenes from the past week

A week ago we made a lovely Salmon Alfredo Penne. Yes that green stuff is kale.

At the last minute we decided to grate some cheese on top and bake it for ten minutes. It was very yummy but ever so filling. Always nice to have leftovers.

Our zucchinis seem to have recovered somewhat and are spread out over this entire bed. Today the carrots at the bottom are covered with those huge leaves. Not sure if it was the right thing to do or not but we cut some of the leaves off to give more air circulation.

This is the next bed and as you can see the peas to the left are growing well. The Swiss chard ( bottom right ) came up very quickly. I delayed planting it as I had some planted in one of my flower pots here at home. The kale in behind is growing like a weed, it really has enjoyed the cool wet weather.

These are the pea pods that we have started to eat. Many more to come as long as it doesn’t get too hot too fast. We do have sun in the forecast, finally but not very high temperatures.

The beans are making a big comeback and should start producing in a few weeks. The ones that we have been enjoying came from our patio flower pot.

These are the only two healthy tomato plants that we have and they are just this week starting to flower. Everyday I go and pollinate each new flower with the tip of my finger. These two plants are small cherry tomatoes. A few of the others are starting to pick up. Even the two new $8.99 tomato plants are lagging. That bit of blue in the middle is Colin’s shirt, he was weeding.

A snapshot of some beautiful clematis on one of our daily walks.

This is a lovely hydrangea plant.

Such dainty flowers.

We were most surprised to see some goslings in this group. There have not been more than two sightings this spring.

So sweet.

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Jul 09, 2020

Not a good year for cherries

I seem to be relaxing too much of late and the to do’s on my desk shows that as does my absence from the blog. Oh well, right now I just am choosing to live in the moment and to heck with the do’s. If things continue as they are, we may be here all winter 😯 and there will be plenty of time to blog.

All the rain we have had has been bad for not only our personal garden but also for the fruit crops that the Okanagan is known for. First of all there was an unexpected cold snap of -7.8C/17.9F on April 2nd, that damaged many cherry blossoms. Some orchardists say they will have a 50% crop. Then came the rain and even more rain which splits the cherries. Some farms have lost their entire apricot crop and a good part of the plums. Thus far peach and nectarine crops should be okay. The harvesting of the cherries in our area began this past Monday and it was sunny promising day.

But it rained the next day and as soon as the rain stopped late afternoon, this past Tuesday, we heard the helicopters. The orchardists are desperate and have brought in heavy duty helicopters to try and dry the cherries. This jet ranger rents out for around $1,500.00 CAD per hour. You can see the cherry trees on the lower right being bent by the wind created by the helicopter. Sadly the rain began twenty minutes later. A waste of money.

While the helicopter was flying just across the highway this guy was having a good time. As soon as the rain stops, the few boats on our lake head out.

Our first peas. The long one in the middle is a different variety and it actually tastes different. We are still very concerned about our tomatoes.

Our dinner included carrots, peas, beets and steamed beet tops from our garden. The tomatoes were from Costco as was the romaine and the lemon & cracked pepper wild Alaskan cod. Colin had a mix of rice and quinoa as well but I had enough to eat as you can see.