Archive for the ‘weather’ Category
SNOW DAY!
Today, Charley’s five-month birthday, also coincidentally happens to be the first Snow Day of the season. I’ve always hoped to be around to see her during her first glimpse of the white stuff in the Comox Valley, but unfortunately I missed it by just a day. Thankfully my mom was home and was fortunate enough to snap some shots.
The verdict: she loves it! Charley couldn’t get enough of the snow and prounced and bounced throughout the flakes while pushing it along the ground with her little snout.
RUMOUR SAYS…
Snow!
At least that’s what’s in Vancouver’s tentative forecast.
Photo courtesy of Duane Storey on Flickr
Vancouver’s residents know that snow is one of the most elusive substances in this city, so when it’s in the forecast, everything seems to turn upside down. As I crossed Hornby along Robson on my lunch break today, a salting truck went by and it perplexed me. Vancouverites have long been made fun of by our eastern counterparts. The seeming inability to deal when the winter skies rip open make us a target for merciless teasing. Though I know that snow is a rarity for us on the “Wet Coast,” I still don’t understand why everyone seems to lose their mind about it.
1) Snow is beautiful and there’s nothing quite so elegant looking as untouched flakes that have fallen on the ground.
2) Snow in the city means a copious amount of snow on the mountains.
3) If it gets really bad (which in Vancouver apparently means about 2″), a snow day equates to a day at home!
With our impending snowcast, are you a lover of the white stuff or do you go looney until it’s melted?
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Being that my birthday is a mere 6 days away, I’m amazed at the level of excitement I feel about it. Not since I was a little girl have I been so excited to celebrate the one day where I can get away with being a little bit of a princess and not be chastised for it.
Photo courtesy of tempest kat on Flickr
I plan on kick-starting Saturday with a luscious peppermint mocha from Starbucks followed by an equisite culinary safari at Urban Fare with my co-chef. After a little bit of food prep, I’m whisking Becky off to have my hair styled before manicures and pedicures at Element Spa For Nails. I haven’t gone “en Français” in far too long, so I made sure to book this appointment weeks in advance. What girl doesn’t deserve a little pampering? Following the royal treatment, I’m donning a fabulous party girl dress before enjoying the evening with fine folks.
Sure it was a little narcissistic and pointless of me to share that with you (ie. “look at me! look at me!”) but hey, who isn’t entitled to get a little excited one day of the year?
WINTER STORM: NUMBER 1
You’d had to have been living under a rock over the last 24 hours if you were in southwestern British Columbia and didn’t know that our first massive windstorm of the season passed overhead. My only real concern was whether the ferries would be running or not today because, as always, my boss really needs me in tomorrow. Little did I know the damage done overnight…
My truck was missed by just inches. It’s now 9:28 p.m. and BC Hyrdo has yet to pay a visit to my aunt and mom’s home. They have been without heat, electricity or running water for over 16 hours now.
Our neighbourhood wasn’t the only part of Courtenay affected by the storm. The Puntledge river shared a little love with Lewis Park:
I can’t say that the storm was an entire write-off…
SUNDAY NIGHT MASH-UP
Tomorrow is almost here, which means it’s nearly time to return to Vancouver. Times on the Island with my family and Charley always pass by much too quickly. One of the beautiful things about the time here is that I do a whole lot of nothing. So here we are, two days since my last post, and I really don’t have anything exciting to share with you. In fact, last night I was out cold by 9:00 p.m. and didn’t wake up until 8:30 a.m.
I spent the day in town with my mom and visited the Charles Dickens Christmas Craft Faire. Among the items we picked up were loose herbal tea and lavender jelly. Both tasty and at delicious prices. Plus, it’s always a superb idea to support your local economy.
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It’s been raining and grey and dark all day in the Valley. “What’s so great about that”, you ask? Rain in the Valley means snow on the mountain.
Mount Washington’s lift pass kiosk, 6:42 p.m.:
Might I add that I am ridiculously excited for a girls’ day on the Island’s mountain with Becky? Swishing snow, glorious sunshine, beers in the lodge at lunch, a plethora of unbelievably hot boys to oggle and some of the finest that the Island has to offer. It will be grand…oh yes, it will be grand.
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I’ll be formulating this coming Wednesday’s “Wanton Wednesday” post pretty soon and I think I’ve got a rather interesting issue to write about, so stay tuned for the 14th.
Other than that, I’m trying to keep my day-to-day life a busy flurry of work and Christmas preparations. It’s been a tough and trying last couple of months for me. Sometimes it’s easier to keep your head down and your spare time focused.
A girl can’t Rome without Caesar.
RAIN, RAIN, DON’T GO AWAY
If there’s one thing I’ve heard over and over again during my day today it’s constant rumblings and grumblings about the excess rain Vancouver’s experienced as of late. It poured last week, it poured all weekend and it rained again today. I’ve made a very simple and clear point about this city to others and I’ll repeat myself here.
If you were raised in the Metro Vancouver area or have spent most of your life here, you know that rain is a very prominent part of our fall/winter season, so you really should be used to it now. For those of you who have transplanted to British Columbia, it is a RAIN FOREST. It was raining long before you came to B.C. and it’ll rain long after you leave, so if you really hate all this rain that much, feel free to pack up and go home.
Is it inhospitable of me to say that? Perhaps. But you know what? I love the rain. It’s a part of life in British Columbia, it always has been and it always will be. It’s part of what makes living in B.C. such a rounded, diverse way of life. Here in Vancouver we have seasons…we get snow and sun and rain and wind and warmth and cold. The rain in this city is fresh and beautiful and cleansing. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
LAZY SUNDAY
I can’t get enough of this rain. I love that it’s falling outside my window, greeting me when I wake-up. It makes the weekend that much cozier. Because I don’t think it’ll stop falling anytime soon, trekking to Winners in an attempt to find some galoshes looks like a necessity today.
One thing I’ve realized is that it’s this very weather that seems to be the chief contributing factor to winter weight gain. When the rain is falling and the wind is blowing outside, who wants to eat a cold salad? Give me something warm and gooey for dinner. Tonight’s menu will be beef fajitas, but sometimes a girl needs tasty snacks to get through rainy nights on her own. As I sat curled up on my couch last night watching Pretty Woman and daydreaming about what it’d be like to be a hooker with a heart of gold (okay, not really), I had the thought that it would be oh-so-nice of me to share my scrumptious caramel popcorn recipe with you all.
Oh-So-Yummy Caramel Popcorn 1/2 cup popcorn seeds
3-4 tbsp. olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of a large pot)
salt
8 large marshmallows (or 80 mini ones!)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup real butter
In a large pot, pour olive oil on bottom and turn heat onto medium. Once the oil is heated (it’ll sizzle if you sprinkle water on it), dump the popcorn seeds into the pot, dash them with salt and throw the lid on. You need to be pretty darned quick and start shaking the pot back and forth over the element. The corn will start popping right away, and it’ll be popping fast. When it’s finished, dump it all into a big bowl.
In a second, smaller pot, melt the marshmallows, brown sugar and butter together. This may take a few minutes, and it’ll be beige in colour when all finished. Drizzle over the popcorn and keep tossing it so you coat it on all pieces. It’s super simple and tastes best warm.
Et voila! Pop in your favourite (chick) flick and eat! You’ll probably eat the whole bowl though, I kid you not. Just tell yourself it’s fat-free.
P.S. Fun Tip Of the Day: Gus Greeper and her husband were kind enough to pass on the fabulous idea of eating popcorn with chopsticks. It makes you feel less like you’re pigging out and, best of all, your fingertips stay grease-free.