CANADIAN REGION: What are you doing October, November, December 2020

We had our first snow, about 5cm, on Sunday 25th October, giving us here in the Southern Interior of British Columbia a winter wonderland.

I think this is the earliest that I can remember since being in Canada.  By the following day the day the snow had fallen from the trees so that was the end of the wonderland part.  Now we still have snow on the ground  and have to be careful walking due to the melt/freeze cycle we have here in the Columbia River valley.  A few miles away of course up in Rossland I am sure they are already skiing and snowboarding.

We have to have snow tires when driving though the passes.  When driving to Vancouver we have three passes to negotiate so always have to check the weather forecast.

My garden now is on hold, just mowing the lawn but even that has come to an end. I was thankful these past few month that I have space and a view, unlike so many who have to live in apartments and tower blocks.  My cat Pal enjoyed his new cattery that I built on my front deck, but now the cold weather is here, he only goes out for a short while as it is getting too cold for him as he is an indoor cat.

My relocation to England is on hold so I am downsizing as much as I can for now, it is unbelievable how much stuff one has when living in the same place since 1996.
When I get to England I doubt that I will have 900 square feet to live in, but I will have part of a two-acre garden area to make my own garden and I am looking forward to that, but not before 31 March of next year when I will start from scratch once more.

Remembrance  Day and here in the Southern Interior we were lucky not to have the snow of my precious posting. 

I  know we were supposed not to go to our local services, but it went very well, with obvious distancing.  One could tell that all of us were keeping to out small groups, me with a group of one as I have no family here.  I would not say it was mild, but it was bearable.  I well remember in years past standing a a foot of snow and all the veterans in wheelchairs were feeling so cold.

I hope everyone watched the TV as instructed.  I think our local service was handled very well.

Halfway through December  and very little doing in the garden.  Where I live in the British Columbia Southern Interior  we have not had very much snow yet, a smattering  here and there but of course  whenever I wanted to drive outside Castlegar one had to go through the mountain passes, so when I did have a car I was quite happy to stay at home. 

My relocation has some good news and some not so good.   My family have secured the place where we are going to live, contracts have been exchanged and signed, and we take possess on 31 March 2021 at the latest. It is also possible that we can move in sometime in February.

My problem is still getting rid of anything I cannot take with me, and will I have to have a Covid vaccine to be able to board a plane.  If so, will I have to wait months?

Once I get there I am going to get a lot of help from members of the family, but I will be able to do what I like, within reason, and as we have four male members they have all said they will build me anything I like such as beds and compost stuff and haul anything I like to build up the soil etc.  They have promised a greenhouse as well.  My brother's grandson James is one of those people who take a rundown house and bring it back to life so he will know what he is doing. Before I visited my brother and his wife last year, James had converted the attic as a bedroom for me and he made a wonderful job of it so I have every confidence in him.

I am really looking forward to a new life there where I can do Back to Eden, Square Foot, and composting and worm bins etc.  If I had known that this pandemic was  coming I could have been there by now as I do have the option of stay with a niece for as long as is necessary and I would have been gathering tools etc, and buying seed and starting a worm bin.

As I posted in another thread, Winter Solstice showed that the sunrise in my morning was one minute earlier, and sunset today was two minutes later.

I could not verify it as the rain was coming down and the sky was covered in cloud.
Later on the rain turned to sleet and then for ten incredible minutes the snow was coming in in huge fat flakes. 

Now back to rain and there is no way I can see the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter tonight.  I all the years I have set out to watch anything happening in the sky like eclipses, satellites, comets, meteor showers, always the clouds have obscured my view.

Lots of snow in British Columbia but it only reached here in the Southern Interior and mostly rain with about ten minutes of snow before turning back to rain.

But halfway at Manning Park from where I am to Vancouver people are sleeping on the #3 Highway due to deep snow, and nowhere to sleep except in their vehicles. At least it is not minus 10C, but I do wonder how many people have emergency blankets and food? Also  thousands have lost power.

Here we are assured the snow will reach us tomorrow morning and it will be heavy.