I joined Mizuho in Japan for the last few weeks of her month-long stay there. A week driving around the island of Shikoku – ryokans, hot springs and gorges – and a week in downtown Tokyo – concerts, Team Lab installations, great food, sights and experiences and visits with friends and family. A couple from Mexico house and dog sat. Attached are some non-house photos with house photos coming next month (hopefully). Sister and BinLaw came for a visit shortly after our return and we had an early first snowfall on the 25th that was mostly melted a few days later.

And for your viewing pleasure: I finally had the opportunity to try a vertical carousel garage with a turn table, a facility that is ubiquitous in the urban areas of Japan.

Beautiful weather in October. Bought another motorcycle, a 2006 BMW 1200 RT. Great deal on a nice touring bike. Not as much fun as the Aprilia but should be better for touring. Will try both in the spring and then sell one.

CBC radio asked me in for an interview on the major players in the Middle East. We had 12 minutes so covered a lot but I did miss a few points, most notably the negative impact of the settlers and occupation of the West Bank. You can hear the interview here https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-110-daybreak-south/clip/16098828-a-former-canadian-ambassador-joins-daybreak-discuss-growing

On the home front, I split the firewood we will need two years from now, built a rose trellis out of the aluminum frames I had bought a few years ago, and planted some tree seedlings along the driveway that I had been nurturing for several years. Also busy with the getting-ready-for-winter preps – servicing the bikes and ATV, cleaning the clubs, and draining the irrigation. We had some rain gutters put on the new equipment shelter and motorized screens installed to keep out the wasps and extend the patio’s season. I will need to make and install two triangular screens and another on the 4th opening – project for the winter.

We had a pretty good harvest this year, especially tomatoes, kabocha squash, and very hot peppers.

And I will leave you with a photo of Taisho enjoying the first frost of the season. I leave Sunday to join Mizuho in Japan for a few weeks while we leave T and house in the hands of our house/pet sitters.

Another busy fun month. Purchased a new induction stove as a computer board (1 of 3) on our 9 year old one expired and took out two burners. Bob had two leaking hydraulic hoses that were fixed by an independent mobile mechanic. Played some golf, had some dinners, attended a concert and an unusual Japanese film (Evil Exists not Here). Quick motorbike trip to the Kootenays and an anniversary holiday in Sun Peaks. Also attended 3 board meetings – Regional Planning Advisory, Chamber Music Kelowna, and the Okanagan Student Support Society (a non-profit we are setting up with a friend).

Trimmed loads of dead branches in the forest and dragged them out for burning or chipping. Finished the equipment shelter and annex and began work on a rose trellis.

Next month should see progress on the trellis, the planting of trees, splitting firewood and getting ready for winter.

A hot sunny month with a few thunderstorms and heavy rain. No smoke all month. Busy with visits from 2 cousins, several social golf games and dinners with friends. Interviewed a house/dog-sitting couple for our Japan trip.

Decided to install motorized screens on the porch which should happen in mid October. Companies were hungry for the business. Ordered a new stove as half of our 9 year old stove stopped working and it was not worth fixing. Got a trailer full of old cedar and fir (clear and straight grain) that was pulled from a demolished building some 40 years ago. $65 🙂 Not yet sure what I will do with it but I am sure inspiration will strike. And decided to build an annex onto the equipment shelter as the latter was not quite big enough. Just need to add some eavestrough and tart it up a bit.

July was extremely hot with most days above 30 and very little rain. While outside work slowed, Coop and I managed to almost complete the equipment shed; only a visual wall, sun screen, soffit, fascia and some grading remain. I now think I need an annex on the shed. Almost finished grading along both sides of the paved driveway – almost 1 kilometer in total – using a wheelbarrow, shovel and rake.

Began installing some yard art using some of the aluminum frames I bought in an auction two years ago. These should really stand out against a snowy background. More to come.

Sister and BinLaw visited before/after their hiking trip to Revelstoke. M and I had a mini trip down to Osoyoos to visit a few wineries and restaurants and a great concert in Penticton by the Cowboy Junkies.

My plans to go see my 100 year old aunt in Saskatchewan (missed her birthday while we were boating) and see Neil Young in Winnipeg (floor seats in a 6,000 seat outdoor stadium in the town where he first performed) were derailed when Neil cancelled 3 months of concerts due to illness (rust never sleeps). So I drove out to see my aunt and spent a few days with her. Delightful visit with a very special lady. About 3,000kms round trip in a perfect road trip car.

I was struck by how few people now live in the prairie country side and how much larger the farms have become. Toured the magnificent new library in Calgary – well worth a visit – and finally took a tour of the Revelstoke dam which was being built when I moved to Vancouver from Winnipeg by motorcycle some 44 years ago.

After doing a fair bit of prep on the driveway with Bob in April and June, we were ready for the pros. They spent two days grading, wetting and packing gravel then came back in a week to pave the entire drive in one day – 16,000 sq ft. Should eliminate the dust and make it much easier to plow in the winter. Now shopping for a longboard. In addition, Upper Booth now extends up to Farmers and is now paved.

After the paving, Coop and I did a 5 day motorbike trip through Creston, Waterton and Glacier National Parks, Montana and back through New Denver and Sandon in the Kootenays. 2,000kms, some rain, hail and sunny weather, snow beside the road in the passes, and an emergency tire replacement in Kalispell. Great trip.

Lots of rain in June and milder temperatures so everything is green and no forest fires. Am building an equipment/wood shelter and will be working on the rafters and roof this month. Posts rest on saddles in concrete with one side bolted to the container. Will be home for the trailers, Bob, the plow, the ATV and other odds and sods and will replace the “tent garage” that I have given to Klaus, a neighbor. Also spending quality time with Bob, a wheelbarrow, a shovel and a rake placing gravel beside the new pavement to avoid any erosion.

Not much to report on the house front this month as we spent 3 weeks in France – a few days in Paris, a few in St Jean de Luz and Toulouse, and 10 days piloting a boat with another couple down the Canal du Midi.

We slipped very quickly into the cadence of Paris and enjoyed an Impressionist exhibition (real and VR), restaurants, cafes, cheese shops and strolling about, and a 4 hour dinner with our Parisian friends we had not seen in a long time. St Jean was a peaceful Basque town on the Atlantic while Toulouse was aerospace and machine museums and more restaurants.

Boating was delightful, and something I had wanted to do for a very long time. Great weather, foods, vistas, crew and adventures.

Late May saw us weeding, gardening, planting and doing the final prep for the driveway paving and a busy June.

We started the month off with a few days in Vancouver, with Taisho, and enjoyed a delightful dinner with my former Ambassador and his wife during my second posting to Japan. We transitioned from ski to golf season and worked on the garden. Got the ECU on the Audi tuned and am now enjoying close to 550hp and 550 ft lbs. Zoom zoom!

Spent quality time on the Bobcat scraping and back blading the driveway to remove the hardened asphalt to get ready for paving in early June. Rather ironic as I had spent the past two winters being very careful when I plowed the snow.

Dug out the unirrigated grass and weeds from around the cocktail rock and replaced with fir mulch.

And found time to do a taste test of some Auchentoshan we brought back from Scotland last year.

Off on a 3-week adventure in May with stories to follow.

March – busy month with the snow all gone at the house but lots still in the mountains around us. Finished the closet in the guest bedroom and knocked down loose rock at the switchback – 20 Bobcat buckets – and removed the river rock beside the basement entrance wall to get ready for paving this summer. Lots of yard clean up and M has been fully occupied with getting the gardens ready.

I found the skis I wanted in Vancouver and Coop was kind enough to bring them back and I love them. Skied 15 times so far this year. Almost had a true Kelowna Double but I skied and golfed on two consecutive days not the same day. Picked up 5kgs of spek that had been drying for month and sold my old chop saw, a dresser and an old coffee table. Also enjoyed 3 concerts, two movies , a play and a contemporary dance, and a St Pats party, and discovered a ramen shop run by Japanese that is so good we ate there 3 times this month.

Although there were no specials on pork shoulder this year, we again made several hundred sausage (Italian and smoked) and several kilos of speck and for the first time some back bacon. As we finally had some decent snow and good ski weather, we skied Big White 8 times this month, including 3 days staying with our friends at their chalet. Mizuho replaced her 20 years old skis with all-mountain Black Pearls and loves them. The ones I liked were sold out everywhere so shall have to wait until next year.

Having become a board member of the local Chamber Music Society (which puts on 5 performance a year and nearly sells out a 300 seat theatre) and a member of the Regional Planning Advisory Board (6 citizens providing views to the Regional Board on planning and zoning issues) I have additional demands on my time and hence, some house projects are going even slower than usual.

Below are photos of the nearly finished shoji door closet in the mother-in-law suite – 6 drawers and a hanging closet. Should be all finished in another few weeks.

We were invited by friends who are members of Martin’s Lane winery for a tour and tasting that usually costs $100 per. Their pinots sell for $100 to $200 a bottle and they make only 2,000 cases a year. Vanity project by Von Mandl, owner of Mission Hill, Cedar Creek, Liquidity and many other wineries. He made his $ from the drinks of choice of many young adults – Mike’s Hard Lemonade and White Claw. The winery is spectacular, the wines are not worth $100.

March will see us on the ski hill, doing yard work and getting the garden ready.