October 2020

 

Like most Canadians, it only seems fair to start out with a weather report.  October started out with temperatures in the 20’s, hurtling down to -4.5 on October 26, before returning to a more seasonal +8 at the end of the month.

October 23 featured a record snowfall in the Okanagan, giving us 8 ½ inches snow.  Our first clue in the morning was being unable to see beyond 10 feet outside. (It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas……)  To Brian’s chagrin, he ended up blowing the driveway twice just to get rid of the stuff.  The geraniums didn’t seem impressed at all, but there sure were pristine surroundings to enjoy.

 

Cloud-watching at this time of year can be a full-time spectator sport.  One day the skies were just boiling with weather currents.  I should have tried a video instead of believing I could capture this in a still picture.

 

While it was still beautiful out, Brian’s cycling group to Su Casa swelled to a mighty 10-strong team, determined to climb the hill to gorge on Denis’s famous cinnamon buns.  Here are some of the die-hards enjoying the open tent Denis erected to allow social distancing outside.

 

Denis is a very quirky character.  He built “picnic tables” for the chipmunks, complete with seeds on top.  I couldn’t catch one in the act, but you can see how well their furniture coordinates with the décor.

 

Things are quiet socially because of the second wave of Covid 19, but we still manage to interact with a few neighbours now and then.  The big clue about isolation is the status of my car’s gas tank—I barely fill it once a month since I am not going anywhere.  We’ll have saved a lot of money to spend for when we are let loose again.

 Two and a half cords of wood were delivered on October 28 to help prepare for winter.  The pile loomed in a threatening fashion by the woodshed, but within 3 days, Brian had all of the wood stacked in place in preparation for winter.  The woodshed could not accommodate the batch, so there are nice piles for the mice and weasels to play in.

 

Speaking of critters, I did see a long-tailed weasel this month, as well as seeing his tracks in the snow near our coffee deck.  Except for a couple of snowy days, the chipmunks have been in and out all month.  Naturally, there are deer around.  With the presence of bears all summer, I have had the bird feeders in, but felt free to put them out a couple of days ago.  Both of us missed all the activity.

Oh, yes—a skill testing question:  how to tell if deer have been in your garden?

o   There is not a single blossom in sign despite prolific blooms the day before.

o   “Deer-resistant” plants like marigolds have been pulled up by the roots, but then are dropped because they really don’t taste good.  Marigold carcasses lie everywhere.

o   There are hoofprints in the soil.

 

On Halloween morning, we woke up to find someone had soaped our kitchen window.  At least, it looked like that.  Since this is predominantly a retirement community, the presence of teenagers was extremely unlikely, and there was only one window treated that way.  So, what was going on?  We went outside to check, and there were scrapings on the sill and the stucco had been scraped somewhat.  Well!  I don’t have pictures to prove it, but we believe John Deer had used our house to remove a little velvet from his antlers.  Sure enough, we saw him and Jane Doe later in the day and since they are going into rut things are a little more active.

Garden raids and window soaping: neigbourhood vandals sure are different here.

Thanks for visiting!  We hope you are keeping well during these times.