I took a few photos around the neighbourhood to share the beautiful fall colours I am seeing here. We are taking Jax on walks most days and he loves the new scenery. Already meeting some of our new neighbours, having coffee with a very nice couple today. I think we will see much more of them in the future.
October 15, 2017
The leaves are changing and fall is upon us. I love autumn, especially on the island with the colours and smells of the harvest season. Beautiful orange pumpkins, colourful gourds and ornamental corn adorn the farmers markets reminding us that summer is over and winter is drawing near. But before winter settles in with its rolling mist and the sound of foghorns echoing from the harbour, we celebrate halloween and to me it is a big part of the seasonal transition from fall to winter.
In celebration of halloween I have found a webpage called Living Library – Haunted Locations on Vancouver Island . This page has plenty of stories steeped in the history of the island. From indigenous folklore to haunted tales of untimely deaths and wandering souls. Whether your a believer or a skeptic this site offers up some interesting story telling which you may want to check out…just don’t do it after dark.
The move is not far away now, we are renting a sea can from Big Steel Box, it’s arriving Friday Sept 22nd (next weekend) and will be picked up again Monday Sept 25th. We have to be ready with everything packed and all the loose ends tied off! Jim and I are working frantically to accomplish this.
One of the things which we needed to do is take the Harley out to storage. It’s too late for Jim to ride it out to the island (we don’t have enough time and there is already snow in the mountains in BC) so we need to store it in Saskatchewan until next summer.
On Wednesday we took the bike out to our storage unit in Lumsden. On the way decided to take in the fall views and stop by Lincoln Gardens Farmers Market. Checking out the market is something we have done in the fall for years and we won’t get much opportunity to do it again before we leave for the coast. As usual it was a lovely day!
We picked up a few veggies and then on to the storage unit. I will miss this for sure. A nice day and now Jim’s bike is tucked in for the winter.
by Jim (and Wanda)
Wanda and I both agree that we want as much natural light in the new house as possible. The front of the house faces almost north (actually bit north east) towards the ocean. Because of this the front will have the most windows and a roof extended over the deck to keep it comfortable when the sun is at it’s highest. For the rest of the house, optimum window placement can be determined especially if there is too much or too little light exposure in certain rooms.
With this in mind I (Jim) came across an online webpage called SUNCALC.NET which can calculate sunrise and sunset and the transit of the sun in relation to any given place in the world and at any time of the year. We entered a few dates to see what we would come up with.
The following slideshow illustrates sun’s transit on the 20th day of March, June and Dec.
The yellow line represents sunrise and the red sunset. June shows us that during the summer months we will have the most exposure on the front of the house. December depicts the greatest exposure on the back and the east side of the house (so more windows on this side would bring in more sun during the winter months). Helpful to know!
Just for fun we also pulled up the same type of info on the moon’s transit at MOONCALC.ORG for September, June and January.
These pictures indicate that the best time to see a full moon rising in the evening over the water will be over the winter months. The moon’s transit will be farther south (behind the house) over the summer months.
Links:
Check the Sun transit across your place in the world
Check the Moon’s transit across your place in the world
We spent January 2016 on the Island enjoying the hospitality of our good friends Carl and Janine and their lovely suite. Although we were greeted by a wet snowfall on arrival, it was minor in volume and only lasted a day or two before the green grass became fully visible again. It was unusual to see Palm trees (which grow here) weighted down with the wet snow. This was the only snowfall we experienced during our stay here.
The climate is quite temperate here with the temperature range quite narrow in the winter. We experienced high temperatures of 5-10 degrees C in January, but the lows rarely went below 0.
While many days were cloudy and drizzly, the scenery was so different than what we are used to at this time of year. I have a simple saying to describe it: green and clean, vibrant and alive! With the wetter conditions, the flora and fauna always looks its best, giving everything an effervescence that’s a joy to experience over the winter season. The roads and vehicles are always clean, and with the mild weather people are out and about, compared to the hibernation effect provided by a Prairie winter. In Sask. I don’t see my neighbours for 4 months!
As we mentioned earlier snowfall is rare in the low coastal areas of the island, so driving is seldom inhibited by road conditions, or visibility concerns, except for, at times, some foggy conditions. Winter travelling in most of Canada usually requires caution and pre-planning, along with a winter survival kit on the Prairies. On the island we found that we were able to enjoy the outdoors or travel in the dead of winter without the typical concerns of driving on dangerous roads, or being subjected to freezing conditions. “Bundling up” on VI is simply putting on a sweater or rain jacket.
Winter activities are much easier in the mild climate. Walking and hiking are possible every day, and on sunny days we saw people golfing in shorts. Cycling, motorcycling, sailing and boating are year-round pleasures.
Cycling is especially prevalent on the island as in can be done year around. This also applies to motorcycling too so Wanda and I really look forward to an extended season of riding.
If I could only use one word to describe winters in VI, it would be “gentle”. While we may get nostalgic and miss the beauty of a fresh snowfall, an enjoyable Christmas trip back to the prairies or a short trek to the mountains will remedy that.
Fraser Adventure . com 