Spring is Finally Here

Spring is finally here!  Apparently, the spring here has been colder than normal, and there has been a fair amount of snow.  In the last week, temperatures have changed dramatically, and we are proud to boast that Osoyoos was the hot spot of Canada today.

For us on the mountain, it has meant that we are not quite into double digits yet, but the warmth of the sun is now sufficient to bring the snow levels down considerably.  This means we are now in roof avalanche season.

Going

Going

Gone

This area is a big migratory path for birds (following the valley through the mountains) and we have had waves of different birds at the feeders.  For a couple of weeks, there were Crossbills everywhere, with the males coloured red and the females yellow.

We now have experienced a week or so of Cassin’s Finches, who are also attractively coloured.

That is a Cassin's Finch male with the Crossbills.

Juncoes and Mountain Chickadees abound, and we think we see Turkey Vultures soaring around.

While we think we are in a desert climate (with the rattlesnakes awakening soon), the greater than average snow pack is causing concern, and we actually will be able to get sandbags in Osoyoos soon to ward against rising waters.  Dam levels are being dropped, and some flooding has occurred already.

Osoyoos actually hit  CBC news with the GIANT ROOT!!!!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tree-root-osoyoos-drain-jurassic-1.4594157

With the advent of spring, we took the occasion to walk through downtown Osoyoos.  Spring bulbs are blooming in the waterfront park, and buds are even seen on shrubbery in our yard, despite the remaining foot of snow.

Osoyoos is an interesting winter/spring transition place.  There are loads of RV’s returning to Osoyoos coming from winter destinations like Arizona (western equivalent of Florida).  Winter residents from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario are returning home for the summer.  With the warm weather in Osoyoos, everyone is out walking in shorts and tank tops—they are all anxious for warmer temperatures.  There are some very very interesting vehicles (and people) in town.  I couldn’t resist taking pictures of this van at a motel lot—another occupant had told me the owner did all this work with bathroom caulking.  I think we are in hippy land.

Have a very happy Easter, everyone.

Boredom, Excitement, Snow and Spring

In many ways, there is little to report at this point, but lots will be coming.

Painting continues at the house.  Our painter is becoming a bit of a discipline problem.  She is working shorter hours, asking for longer breaks, and is wasting paint by wearing much more than is seemly for a woman her age.  Nonetheless, about half of the upstairs is done, with warmer colours.  (Before and after pictures—they don’t seem THAT dramatic.)  Part of the basement is done.  The work continues.

The Spring Switch was pressed about 5 days ago.  Ten days ago, we had about a foot of snow, and the snow stick was at 32”.  The driveway was blown twice in two days.  (More to follow re not having a life.)

The last couple of days, the temperatures have reached double digits here in the daytime, and there is a veritable waterfall of snow melt coming from various roof surfaces.  The snow stick is at 23” and in Osoyoos people are walking everywhere and sitting on outside tables.   They still have jackets on, but there were women wearing only flip flops this afternoon.  We are watching snow lines on the hills to see how quickly they will rise from the valley.

When You Don’t Have a Life

               When a foot of snow is dumped on your property, the morning coffee break involves surveying the land below while swearing not to put a foot outside.  There is a driveway below us, leading a long road up to the “Saudi House”:  this is a house under construction while the future owners still work in Saudi Arabia.  Everyone calls it the Saudi House.  Construction is behind schedule and over budget, which appears to be typical in this area.  The morning after the snow, a truck attempted to back up the driveway, with a heavy trailer.  There was way too much snow.  The truck got stuck quickly.  It then went down the road to the main road, attempted to back up, and the trailer slid into the ditch.  We are having way too much fun.  We watch one neighbour to go out to help, and the next to watch while taking her dog out to the walk.  Nothing works.  Neighbours go away, and after a while a tow truck comes in to winch the truck and trailer out of the ditch.  Here is where the real fun begins.  One of the workers, bored out of his gourd while waiting, uses a longer piece of plywood used to hold the wheels of the truck (unsuccessfully).  This becomes the new snowboard.  He slides up and down the road several times.  When the truck is winched out, he uses his cell phone to take pictures of the wheel wells created by spinning the tires.  They leave for the day.  The Bobcat comes two days later and spends hours taking out snow.

Brief Wildlife Episodes

               A week ago, Brian saw a male purple finch unable to fly in the driveway.  Rehab Helen comes to the rescue, despite knowing very little about birds.  A wing is drooping, and Helen attempts figure 8 bandages on a finch wing for three days (this is a BIG challenge.  Helen 0, finch 3)  On Saturday, we drove young Wilbur (as in Orville and Wilbur) to Kamloops to the closest rehab centre admitting birds.  It was a 9 hour round trip, and Brian gets the Husband of the Year Prize for driving so far for a few grams of wildlife.

House Projects

The house painting is merely the lull before the storm.   (Everyone note:  the guest bedroom is next and will be lovely by the time you arrive.)

The house needs to be landscaped and we have already settled on a contractor to start in the spring when the snow is gone.  This will be a major (but expected) requirement for the house.

We have ordered blinds for windows, and may need more, depending on light levels.  Master bedroom will be painted after the blinds arrive.

A big work in progress is electrical:  we are going wholesale on LED lights, probably because the first 2-month power bill was $918.  We have over a 100 quartz bulbs and floodlights to replace, as well as 31 switches suitable for dimmable LED lights.  Two fixtures will be replaced and a ceiling fan installed in the bedroom.  We will be picking up all this this week and then arranging for the electrician to come in.

The US

Winter is the only time to see this, and it took us a little while to figure this out.  The picture of the mountains is that we see out of our living room window.  If you look a little right to center, there is a long straight white line going up the mountain.  That is the US border.  It is essentially about 4 cleared feet of land with a barbed wire/wooden fence running up the middle.  We actually look more into the US than we do in Canada from the house.

Sorry--next issue will be more interesting.