WINTER IS PETERING OUT, I HOPE.

 

Our time continues to pass by with mostly same old, same old with the odd high spot once in a while.  It would be nice to get this pandemic over and done with!  I spend too much time at the computer these days playing with photos.  However, some of the results are quite satisfying.  I’ve done quite a few photos converted to pencil sketch look-a-likes in the computer.  Some of them print up very well on mat photo paper so I’ve been making some photo cards from them.

I’ve been posting photos daily to Facebook, sharing with my friends but have finally used up all the old photos I’ve recently edited.  I’ve taken a couple of road trips in the last couple of weeks.  The first was a loop down to Osoyoos then over to Keremeos and back to Penticton.  I explored several back roads I hadn’t been on before which is always fun and sometimes very rewarding photographically.  The second was a run up to Salmon Arm this past Monday for our mail.  First mail since January 6 and there were five Christmas cards and the start of our income tax receipts and statements.

Our house should have come off the production line at the factory yesterday and is scheduled to be delivered to the lot on March 15.  They have told us to expect another six weeks before it is ready for us to move in.  Then the real fun begins…

Gardening season is about to start for us.  I unloaded the RZR off the utility trailer then Karen and I went to Garden Works and filled the trailer with bags of sea soil, soil enhancer, steer manure and more.  We are going to rejuvenate her raised garden beds and plant some more blueberries in another spot.  A friend came yesterday and pruned the fruit trees.  The gardening duties will keep us busy until moving time now.

The bluffs above Vaseux Lake

The is the barn built in 1916 on the Haynes Ranch near Osoyoos, BC which is still in pretty good condition.

This old Haynes Ranch house was built back in the 1870's, I think.  John Haynes established the ranch in 1860 and at one time owned 22,000 acres.

Bighorn Sheep above Vaseux Lake

Ice on the bluffs above Vaseux Lake

On Vaseux Lake

Winter in the vineyards and orchards on the South Okanagan Valley

This nice Bighorn ram was across the lake from Kelowna on my Monday road trip

Cold weather and stiff winds created come masterpieces along the east shore of Skaha Lake just south of Penticton, BC.

Here's a self portrait on me that I converted to a pencil sketch in the computer

The ice is starting to melt in Penticton Creek

On our walk after supper last night.  If you look closely you can see Aileen in the upper left.

By the time we got home, it was mostly melted but it sure came down for a few minutes!

ANOTHER TASTE OF WINTER

 

We had some cool temperatures recently getting as low as -15C which was 5F.   There was quite a bit of wind which made it feel much worse.  We got a few snowfalls but since Penticton seems to be in a rain shadow area, two inches was about the maximum each time.  Mostly it would snow for hours but leave just a dusting.  We had another inch overnight last night.   Our family and friends on Vancouver Island have had lots more snow than us recently.

Continuing with our mostly solitary existence, we haven’t been out much amongst other people.  Aileen gets to chat with some regulars while out walking while I do the bare minimum of required shopping in stores.  It’s hard to find anything to write about these days and currently the photography is very limited.  I am enjoying the photos my friends in AZ are sharing on Facebook and our friend Richard sends me photos by text and email.  So, I’m reduced to doing Arizona vicariously this winter.

For myself, I have continued to work at converting some of my photos into pencil sketch prints on the computer.  I’m finding that not many images actually lend themselves to the process.  The ones that I print on art type paper sometimes look much better than on the computer screen.  The biggest problem I’m having is finding suitable paper to print on.   So far, I haven’t found any local suppliers.  Actually, I haven’t found any Canadian suppliers for what I’m searching for.   I have been using part packages of paper which I have had for years and what I have found is that every company I bought them from has gone out of business.  Back then, camera stores sold what I have.   Those stores are now all closed.  I continue to prowl the internet looking for suitable paper.  I could order from the US but with the shipping, exchange and customs, it is quite pricey.

Things will get more interesting for us in another month or so.  It is less than a month until we plan to be back in the motorhome.  Also, less than a month until our new home is scheduled to be delivered.  Probably another month after that before we get to move in but we will be busy searching for new beds and scheduling our appliance delivery.  We will also need to decide how much of the property we will cover with cement.  500 square feet is part of the house package while any extra we have to pay for.

Don't forget to click on the images to bring them up larger.

Here are a few images taken on my walk up the creek yesterday.  The ice is very thick after our week of heavy freezing.

And, a few more of my computer pencil sketches.

LOOKS LIKE WINTER HEADING OUR WAY

 

I guess we have a bit of a cold snap coming in for the next few days with a low of -18 forecast for Wednesday.  I will be hunkering down here in the apartment for the most part.  Knowing this was coming and since yesterday was such a gorgeous day, we took our lunch and went for a drive.  There was no snow on the ground here in Penticton so it was a surprise to get to the other end of Skaha Lake and find the ground all white at Okanagan Falls.  Down at our lot a little further was the same. 

We drove through Oliver then took the back road up past Willowbrook then turned left near the White Lake Observatory and took the road to Twin Lakes where we found a spot to park and have our lunch.  It was a pleasant 4-7C temperature.  It was 11C on Thursday which was 53F, the warmest we’ve had since last fall.  I guess it was softening us up for the big drop!

Aileen spotted a flock of these little birds busy eating seeds out of the catkins

Seen while snowshoeing the other day

These are all Vaseux Lake.  In the extreme left there is a cliff called McIntyre Bluff and we look right up at it from our lot.

The view where we ate lunch yesterday

One of Karen's orchids

I've been spending quite a bit of time trying to learn how to turn my photos into pencil sketches.  I found I didn't have the talent for doing it with an actual pencil so I'm stuck with doing it with my computer.

Don't forget to click on the images to enlarge them.