December saw us watching the Olympic Curling Qualifications where both Japanese teams won in front of a lot of fans from Japan and NHK TV. The women’s team was from the small town of Tokoro, on the north coast of Hokkaido, where I curled in bonspiels (outdoors and indoors) many times in the 80s and 90s.

Apart from the fire on the road below us and the chaos to the south, a very enjoyable year. On the home front, we finished making screens for the porch and a trellis, completed 3 walkways and some steps, installed some yard art, finished a cabinet in the guest bedroom, and spent a lot of time on forest management – felling and limbing trees and making huge piles of branches for mulching and burning. And spent a lot of time getting our new charity project launched.

Found time to make sausages with our neighbor again and help him harvest grapes and bottle 1,000 litres of wine from previous harvests. Lots of skiing (twice this current month), social golf and dining with friends. Graced by several visits, including by Mizuho’s mother (3rd time) and sister (2nd)!

And we had some delightful trips. Paris, southern Spain and Lyon in May; several motorbike camping trips in the summer and fall; Banff/Canmore in August; NYC, crossing the Atlantic on the QM II and some time in London in October; and Mizuho had a jam-packed 3 weeks in Tokyo in November.

On the house-front menu for next year is getting some professional irrigation work done, making 3 cabinets, tarting up the wine cellar, and installing some more yard art. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Much of November was spent cleaning up the forest by felling and limbing trees, dragging out dead branches, and making huge piles to mulch in the spring or burn in the winter. Bought a used propane heater for the porch and had a very early snowfall. Mizuho had a delightful 3 weeks in Japan and brought home some treats.

During the first half of the month we were busy with garden harvesting and maintenance, and forest management, and then vacation for the 2nd half. Friends from Niagara Falls house and dog sat while we spent a few days in NYC (plays, museums and street vibe) and a week on the Queen Mary II from NYC to Southampton (nice way to get to Europe). We then stayed at the residence of the Italian Ambassador to the UK for 5 days – he was my counterpart in Paris 20 years ago – while visiting pubs, museums and a night at the Royal Opera (The Magic Flute was excellent). The highlight was spending time with our Italian friends in their opulent residence.

More record highs with very little rain in September. Dropped some dead/dying trees and cut up for firewood. Cut up branches that had been piling up for a few years but were too dry to mulch and too small for firewood. Several large piles (refrigerator size) are under tarps and shall be burned when the fire bans are off.

M and I played a few golf games (a playing partner had a hole in one, his 3rd!) and an overnight trip to Penticton for a jazz concert but the venue (in operation for 25 years) closed down the day before. A solo 3 day motorbike camping trip to Mica Dam (140kms north of Revelstoke) and back through the west Kootenays and another camping trip with two friends who brought a truck and trailer – more like glamping as we had chairs, ice cooler, plates, glasses and other refinements. M and I helped our neighbor harvesting his grapes. He has a huge crop this year – we and others got about 1/3 done in two days which was pressed into 2,000 litres. Hard work. And the garden has been bountiful this year.

Great visit with M’s mom and sister, mostly chats, harvesting veggies from the garden, eating, and making another path in the lower part of the yard out of river rocks and tree bark (we call it Sawaya’s hodo). Made another path from the front entrance to the main patio and moved the BBQ off the patio away from the screens (Coop’s hammer drill came in very handy when rerunning the gas line). Replenished the firewood shed and pruned about 40 lavender plants.

Three guys came by to check out the bike but found it too sporty and powerful for them. Finally sold at the end of the month – sad to see it go but looking forward to the more responsible (sedate) BMW.

Visitors from Quebec, Victoria, and Canmore, a few golf games, a friend’s 70th BDay party with 50 people, barrel tasting at Spearhead winery, and raced electric go karts with Cam and Coop. Spent a few days and Mizuho’s Bday in Revelstoke – great dinner followed by an invitation to a speakeasy in the basement. On to Canmore to stay at a friends condo for a week and attend 5 concerts at the Banff International String Quartet Competition and lots of hikes with Taisho. Capped off the month with a “salon”concert and dinner at an Austrian pianist house.

With Mizuho’s mother and sister arriving in late July, most of the month was spent preparing for the visit. Her sister and Mother visited us 10 years ago and her mother came for a 2nd visit 5 years ago.

I started and finished a stone walkway and a short stone staircase, fixed a couple of 8 year old benches and the rose trellis, trimmed a great many branches and tuned up my chain saw. I also had time to create 4 art installations out of wine barrel rings.

Work slowed when a fire broke out off the road below us. It was quickly suppressed by 4 fire departments, 2 helicopters and two tanker planes, but not before the neighborhood was evacuated. Thankfully, no houses burned and we were back home that evening.

On the fruit side, M canned, froze or made into jam our neighbor’s cherries and blueberries and our apricots and raspberries. And we have been eating lettuce, shishito, daikon, shiso, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers, peas and garlic from the garden.

The visit has been great and included lots of chatting and eating, some sewing projects and fruit picking, a few wineries and a steam train ride, a visit to the sports centre where Mom and Sis swam laps for an hour and M and I splashed around, and a long visit with our farmer friends, the Ojis.

Some welcome rain led to hours and hours of pulling weeds but the garden is looking good and we are eating lettuce, raspberries and peppers. Expanded the cages and wells around 25 trees, hopefully for the last time. ATV now has 2,000kms, up from 350 when I bought it. I had built temporary steps and a front porch out of OSB and scrap 2×6 for Mizuho’s mother’s visit 2 months after we moved in. Ten years later they have been repurposed as a wood walkway.

Taisho had a big month. He got his 4th marmot and scared off a young black bear just above the parking area.

Enjoyed visits from a cousin from Saskatchewan and friends of Mizuho’s from Japan (fellow shiba lovers). Also had one last bike camping trip with Coop who then sold his bike. We had many great trips around the BC interior and I shall miss my biking buddy. I took the older BMW and enjoyed it but am now using the Aprilia – will need to decide soon which one to sell.

We have both been busy with little projects to spruce up the place in anticipation of a visit by Mizuho’s mother and sister.

A few days in Paris (friends and favorites but lots of tourists), 2 weeks plus in the south of Spain (impressive Moorish history and architecture, plentiful tapa bars, friendly people, lots and lots of tourists) and 5 days in Lyon (great and varied market and grocery food, good restaurants, bigger than expected, very few tourists). France (outside of Paris and tourist attractions) is our favorite.

Last week of May saw us in the garden (planting and pulling weeds) and finishing closing in the patio. June should see more quality time in the garden, visitors from Japan, and hopefully a motorbike trip.

A delightful month with a week of +20 to bring out the blossoms and close it out. Lots of garden prep (weeding), branch trimming and setting up the irrigation. Had three burn days to get rid of dried twigs and branches – the rest will be mulched in June. Put away the skis and had our first golf game of the season. Vacant lot next door went up for sale.

insert apricot blossoms

Finally found some more stackwall stones to build another set of steps that will go from the upper patio to the drone landing pad – June project. Completed (mostly) a screen and frame for the patio – still needs some touch ups and to close off the triangular space on top of the new screen frame. Completed (mostly) the closet/dresser downstairs – still need to design and make drawer fronts and handles.

We were also busy with getting our charity off the ground. It will provide $ to hard-working high-school students who may not make it to graduation due to financial challenges. Banking, funding, schools, directors and bylaws are lined up and Mizuho made a marvelous website (still in development). The first awards should go out in September. More at OSSS.ca

Kelowna hosted the Brier Curling Championship. We had great seats for one draw and were amazed by how good these guys are. Found time to ski another 3 times, see a couple of foreign films (including one shot in Winnipeg), and enjoyed 3 concerts, 6 dinners with friends, and several days in Vancouver with Taisho at the Sylvia Hotel on the edge of Stanley Park. One concert was the separate and combined Montreal Guitar trio (acoustic) and the California Guitar Trio (electric, opened for King Crimson for a few years, and one of them plays a Chapman Stick – stick.com). Snow at the house was all gone in early March but came back twice before the end of the month. Some modest progress on the basement closet and porch screen.