PROGRESS REPORT

 

We closed on the new home March 18^th.  We supposedly take possession April 30.  Progress is being made with the drywall finisher being there most days.  Some of the outside finishing continues as well.  Since our unit was delivered, two more have arrived so the crews will be very busy there for several weeks.  Deer Park Estates is complete now as all 102 lots are occupied.

Aileen has been working in the gardens cleaning up and doing some planting.  I have been constructing new deer proof garden enclosures.  Nice to have something to do outside at this point.

I made a trip up to Salmon Arm to collect our mail so I could submit the income tax stuff.  I have started changing our address over to our place but will continue to have some mail go to the Salmon Arm address since it is still available.

I have picked up a couple of geocaches so far and as the snow retreats at the higher elevations hope to get more active.  Once we get possession of the house outside activities will have to compete with making it our home.

One of Karen's orchids against an abstract painting 

Those are all tiny individual orchid flowers against the same painting.

First daffodil at Karen's

Outside progress on the lot

Buttercups yesterday

An old dump rake just like the one I used to ride on when I was about six.  I had to jump down from the seat every time I had to step on the trip lever.

Lichen on a rock yesterday when I was climbing up the mountain.  The rock is over two feet in each direction.  From a distance I thought it was a cut log end.

The view over St. Andrew's golf course from the top.

More buttercups from yesterday

OUR BIG DAY ARRIVED TODAY!

 

Well, the big day finally arrived and our new house was delivered to the lot.  It seems like a long time since we began the process.  We were up and out the door early this morning suspecting the truckers might have moved in the dark to avoid the Kelowna rush hour traffic.  Sure enough, as we approached the park, one unit was parked just off the highway.  The other one was already on the lot but still hooked to the truck.  We enjoyed watching the whole process which turned out to be pretty slick.  The only downside was the strong NE wind that chilled us to the bone.

We moved back in to the motorhome this past Friday.  We will probably be in the motorhome until sometime in May.  The company is saying they think they need another six weeks to complete the finishing inside and the deck and carport.  We’ll see how close they are to their timing.  Somewhere along there we need to have our appliances delivered and we need to buy a couple of mattresses and box springs to go with our bed frames.  After we get moved in, we will figure out what other furnishings we need to look for.

I’m looking forward to flower season.  So far we’ve seen a few buttercups and this morning when Aileen walked up the river from the lot she saw a yellow bell (fritillary) bloom.  I hope to get the timing right for going up to the flower meadows we discovered last spring.

The front half arriving

The back half being lifted off the dolly

Then they put these rails out that the unit is slid in on.

Partway in

The roller setup.  The bottom rollers are for moving it to the side while the top ones are for moving it length way.  These are so effective that one person was able to move it length way and two pushed it in.  I got it on video with my phone but I haven't been able to download them to my computer.

Backing the front section in between the neighbour and the porta potty.

Starting to slide them in together

Protective coverings removed ready to mate.

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.