I'm Home!!

Here I am, safe and sound at home with my laptop plugged in and the battery recharging. Earlier I was sitting outside on a table at one of the Tim Horton's coffee house/restaurants we have in our city. I drank tea while doing some blogging.  When my battery got too low, I had to shut down the laptop and head home on my trike. It sure has gotten a LOT cooler at night, just in the last 2 days or so. I am so grateful I took my hoodie along today as it really was a very cool ride home along the lake. It was a bit cool at Tim Horton's but not uncomfortable at all, though when riding you must add the wind chill factor in and it is much cooler than when just sitting.  I had to stop along the way to take off my helmet and put up the hood of the hoodie, then put the helmet back on. I will be zipping the longer ear/neck liner in for the evenings now, having it with me on the trike for whenever I need it. When I got home I checked the thermometer in my carport and it's just under 14 degrees Celsius and it is cooler closer to the lake I ride past.

Anyway, now I'm home in the warmth and comfort of my own home and back on the internet.  Since I didn't sleep much or well last night, I will not be on the computer long at all.  I think I will take a few minutes to look at some cheap T shirts online, then will go crawl into bed with my wonderful cat and see if I can have a better night than the last one.

Yesterday was Spring,
Today... deep Winter!
That Bites!

Written by:
Alice Gypsy-Girl Price
February 16, 2012.

 

A Snow Poem

Snow Day

All dressed up and ready to go,
I went outside into falling snow.
Four inches deep it must be,
And nasty roads that I can see.
Drive in this? Of course I can,
Though an enjoyable day was my plan.
As I started to clean my truck off,
I looked around and began to scoff.
"Give your head a shake, girl." I said,
"Go back inside, go back to bed!"
So back inside I then did go,
Inside out of all that snow.
Now fully clothed, with tea in hand,
On bed with laptop I sit... not stand.
There are places I must go late afternoon,
And am hoping the snow will stop falling soon.

Written by:
Alice Gypsy-Girl Price
February 16, 2012.

Winter Blahhhs

I need a lot of color in my life.  The current weather has no color to speak of. Between fog, snow, hoar frost, it's all looking like black and white photos... even when they are color photos.  The only real color is my new truck!!

A Beautiful Day

The weather forecast for today, as of 11:00pm last night, was for a high of 2°C and 40% chance of wet flurries.

Can you imagine how happy I was when I woke to a clear, sunny day? When I took the recycling down to the end of my driveway just after 3:00am, I noticed the sky was clear and full of stars, but that doesn't mean it still will be clear by morning.

About 11:00am I looked outside and saw my thermometer was showing 7°C!! Snow is melting like crazy, steady drips falling from the roof. As the day has progress, it's now 1:51pm and there are lots of clouds moved in, though still lots of blue sky showing. There is a bit of wind, and with the temperature hanging steady still at 2°C, that will melt away the small amount of snow we have at this time. I don't mind that at all.

Motorcycle Show

Sunday morning my friend Dan called at 4:00am... my wake up call. i got out of bed, had breakfast, got dressed, fed my birds and other such things. At 5:00am (or there about) Ray picked me up and off we went to the Vancouver Motorcycle Show in Abbotsford, BC.  It takes about 5 hours to drive there from here with a stop for gas and another stop for tea, and we were happy to have bare roads most of the way there. Going over the mountains we did encounter compact snow on the highway in the upper areas near the summit of the mountain and otherwise they were bare.

Ray dropped me off at the front door on the Tradex Centre and went to park the truck.  I went in, paid my entry and hung around looking at stuff until Ray joined me. We spent about 3 1/2 hours walking around looking at motorcycles of all makes and models as well as many motorcycle related things like leathers, boots, patches, helmet stickers, etc etc etc. By the time we had walked through all of what there was to see, my low back was hurting so bad it was nasty and I had shooting pains in my right hip joint.  As we walked outside it was raining and I had left my coat in the truck, so I was really happy to find there was a bus there to drive people back to their vehicles in the different parking lots. It was a good show, though I was disappointed that there weren't more trikes than there were.

On the drive back it was raining until we got closer to the mountains where it changed to snow and the bare, wet roads became snowy roads. As we continued on our way, road conditions deteriorated and became dangerous.  We saw a pickup truck that looked like it may have been hit by someone as it's front bumper was pulled out significantly.  A little further along we saw a mini van in the ditch and not much past that there was a pickup truck with a canopy that had obviously lost control and rolled completely over. The police were there and an ambulance passed us just down the road. Add to this the fact that two times Ray's truck started to slide and it made for a stressful trip.  I sure was glad that Ray is a good driver and didn't loose control.

By the time we got home I was very tired.  It was just after 8:30pm and had been a long day, though a good one.

Brrrrr

Up until recently we were having an unusually warm and wonderful winter. Warmer than usual temperatures, less than normal snowfall... it almost didn't seem like winter at all and we even set a record for warm temperatures on at least one day in December. Now, in the middle of January, we have been hit by very cold temperatures accompanied by wind coming from the north.  Apparently this cold weather is being blown down from Alaska.... and I for one wish they'd stop sending this to us!!  With a high of -11.4°C and a current temperature of -19°C, I am looking forward to warmer times. The Environment Canada Weather Office online is forecasting temperatures on the plus side starting Saturday and I am really hoping their predictions are right.

Winter has Arrived!

This winter has been very warm and any bit of snow we have gotten has melted away in a short time, leaving behind only the odd bit of snow or ice in shady spots. That is until the last few days!! It has turned cold and we had a bunch of snow today which will not be melting away any times soon!! It would seem that winter has finally arrived!! I guess this is good as we do need it, though I so much prefer warmer seasons. I know many people love winter and love doing winter sports such as skiing and snow mobile riding, though I love riding my trike (3 wheel motorcycle) which I only do in warmer months. I will do my best to enjoy this season as I always like to enjoy each day and find the good in it... and still I look forward to spring and the start of riding season!!

I am grateful for my friend Ray and for his new job plowing people's driveways and such. I am no longer able to shovel my driveway due to physical challenges, so the last few years I've just packed the snow down with my truck, thanking God for 4 wheel drive on this hill. Now Ray has surprised me twice by coming by and plowing me out on his way from one job to another in the truck with the snow blade.

Today's weather, etc.

Today was amazing, weather wise. It was 10°C (50°F) and sunny, clear blue skies!! It was a pure delight at this time of year to be out and about without a jacket and be totally comfortable. I wish every day could be like today!! Of course, there is a draw back to this in that we had a small amount of snow the other day and today it did a lot of melting, now will freeze and be very icy. Not only could this be dangerous out on the highways, but I live on a hill so have a very steep driveway that can be very dangerous when glare ice as you can't stop and end up on the highway, risking hitting or being hit by oncoming traffic. So if it's going to be sunny and warm I want it to melt all the snow off the driveway and let it dry enough to avoid the buildup of ice. I wish everyone a safe and joyous winter!!

I attended my weekly TOPS meeting and found I gained 1 1/2 pounds over Christmas. While this is not good, it also isn't terrible. Apparently, the average weight gain over Christmas is 5 pounds, so I didn't do all that bad. The worst anyone in our group did was a 3 pound gain. Time to get busy and get rid of that along with lots more. After TOPS, I got gas in my truck, then went to lunch with the ladies, as usual, and had a Veggie Burger with side salad, took the top half of the bun off before I ate and left that on my plate, also using a lesser amount of the Italian salad dressing 'on the side'. I went and got some pellets for my stove (I heat my home with these pellets), then to the Bargain Bin to meet friend Pat and picked up a few items, including some nice sheets for my bed. After that Pat & I went to Dairy Queen where I broke my diet both as a vegan and a weight watcher... I had a Mini Blizzard... so could have been much worse. It was yummy!! When time to head home, I went to the used book store to look for some books I've been wanting. I got one of the ones on my list... and 4 that weren't on the list. This evening I browsed some in the book Cook With Tofu, it looks like some good information and recipes for a new vegan to learn from and enjoy.

Major Storm

We had a really incredible storm here last night. Wind! Thunder! Lightening! Heavy Rain! I got home from town when black clouds were along one horizon and very shortly after that the storm hit!! I had tarped the trike and used rocks to hold the tarp down, but the wind ripped the tarp off of it, so I went out in the pouring rain and took the seat and saddle bags off, putting them in the carport where they'd be protected... that was after my power went out. Good thing I had 2 batteries on chargers for my big flashlight! I took the flashlight to bed and read my book until the one battery died, changed them by candle light and read (and texted some) until the second one was nearly dead, then shut it down and went to sleep. Power came back on sometime during the night. Good to have power on again... cel on charger, computer & internet back, etc. etc. Thankfully the weather demons got it out of their system and it is blue sky & sunshine again today.

Spring is Here

This morning I went out to my truck to look for something I thought was out there. I didn't bother to put shoes on, just went in my bare feet. I got mud between my toes. Hmmm, guess I'm rushing the season. LOL. Spring is here complete with sunny skies and warm temperatures! Yesterday the high was 13°C and beautiful. The snow is gone and motorcycles are out and about again. I can hardly wait to have mine on the road again, but must wait. One week from today I have a second operation on the wrist that was broken when I was hit by a car. Also, work has not yet stated on building my new trike. I will be lucky if I am 'on the road' by May long weekend.

Have an AWESOME day... I plan to.

Feeling Like Spring

My favorite time of year is Spring!! It is a delight to have warmer temperatures and to see the snow melting away and running down my driveway in little rivers. When I left the house shortly after 11am today my thermometer said it was 6°C. I just looked at the Environment Canada Weather Office website and they say it is currently 9.0°C in my city, though I don't know if it is the correct temperature for my location. It will be very close if not exact. The sky is cloudy and I wish it was sunny though I am at least happy it's warm and melting. My pellet stove is turned down to 1, the lowest setting it has and is keeping my home around 70°F. The thermometer I have in my living room shows both C & F, but from here I can only see the F as it's the larger numbers and I'm not going to get up to go read it just now. I am about to go out for a drive to a town near by and visit a friend. I will enjoy the spring weather and the visit.

Still Cold

It is currently -13°C, according to the Weather site on the internet. The predicted high is -8°C. The forecast keeps promising warmer temps, then they never come, the posted forecast keeps changing though still holding that 'warmer temperatures' carrot out in front of our noses. The sun is shining and it looks so beautiful outside.... and I don't even want to go there. I'm staying in until I have to go to town this afternoon, then will bundle up. Will actually wear a scarf with my vest, or I might even wear a jacket today. People think it's weird that I usually don't wear a jacket, just a vest and often with the sleeves of my sweater or shirt pulled up to my elbows, but mostly I am comfortable like that. You know it's real cold if you see me wearing a jacket/coat.

I had to talk to a gal at Telus this morning to get her to fix my texting problem... couldn't send or receive texts on my cell. She was in Calgary and said it was -45°C there. WOW that is SO COLD!! Compared to them we have warm weather.... though for us this is cold. Our 'normal' temps at this time of year, according to the weather website, are Max: 5°C Min: -2°C so we are so not normal this year. I want it to warm up so we can start doing the conversion on my new trike.

Cold Weather

It is currently -5°C, according to the Weather site on the internet. It was sunny this morning though is clouding up. The forcast is:

Today
Cloudy. 40 percent chance of flurries. Wind north 30 km/h gusting to 50. Temperature falling to minus 15 this afternoon. Cold wind chill minus 26. Risk of frostbite.

Tonight

Cloudy with 40 percent chance of flurries. Wind north 30 km/h gusting to 50. Low minus 17. Cold wind chill minus 27. Risk of frostbite.

Thursday
Cloudy with sunny periods. Wind north 20 km/h. High minus 10. Cold wind chill minus 27. Risk of frostbite.

This same site also tells me that the normal temperatures are:
Max: 5°C
Min: -2°C

I sure wish our weather would get back to 'normal'. This nasty cold is not fun.

Cold Weather

Last week some people were still riding their motorcycles, then on Friday there was a drastic change in weather. Overnight it went into the deep freeze and Friday we got our first snow of the year. It has been way colder than usual for this time of year too. It's been so cold that politicians and CEOs of Insurance companies have been seen with their hands in their own pockets!! Now that is cold! I don't usually wear a jacket as I don't usually feel the need to, only when it's really cold, and I've been wearing one the last several days and been very grateful for having warm jackets to wear. Last night before I went to bed I checked the thermometer outside my door and it was a nasty -20C (0C = 32F). This morning as I left for my physiotherapy appointment it was -13C, so had warmed up some though still cold. This evening the snow started falling again. Dan, a friend of mine, is driving 117Km (73 miles) each way to work these days and stopped to visit me on his way home this evening. He said it was horrible driving in the snow storm as he couldn't see where he was a great deal of the time.

Tonight on TV they said we've broken records for cold temperatures. Today -19.8C broke the record set in 1985 at - 18.4C. Burrrr!

The weather forecast is for it to start warming up to normal November temperatures, and for us to get a lot of snow in the next while.


I sure am grateful to live in a nice home with a good pellet stove to keep me and my pets warm, and with hot tea to add to the warmth and comfort.

Weather and Yard...

I was beginning to think one might have to travel to Florida and rent one of those orlando timeshare places in order to get some decent weather, then today surprised us all (even the weatherman, I'm sure) when it was clear, sunny and fairly warm (high of 22 degrees Celcius) though it had been forecast to be raining again as most days have for some time now. The forecast for tomorrow keeps changing so I guess I will have to wait to see what it's like, though I am hoping for another day like today as my plans are to go to where my trike is and go for a ride. In 17 days I go to do my Skills Test, so guess I better get skillful.

Today I wasn't feeling quite as splendid as I like to feel, so I stayed home instead of going to my Aqua Therapy group. I really do need to go do the exercises in the water as they do help me a lot, though I don't seem to make it there every time. Oh well, there's always next week. Dan came by this morning and helped me move 2 more bathtubs into my back yard. We put one into place though the other one not yet. I need to do a bit of clean up work before putting the tub in place and filling it with rocks and soil. Now to find more rocks to haul home... hmmmm. My raised bed gardens will soon be all in place, filled, planted and growing. I also moved a rack to the back yard to hang plants on. It's coming along fairly nicely and I know I will enjoy it out there this year.

Now I'm off to get ready and go to Toastmasters. I am wearing several hats there this evening as many of our members are away. I will be the Grammarian/Ah Counter, the Table Topics Evaluator, a Speech Evaluator, and give the Closing Thought as well as supply the Snack for this evening. Tim Bits and Tea... yummmy.

This Date Last Year

Did you hear the joke about the woman who went to the store for weight loss supplement and never came back?? No?? That's good... it was a bad joke anyway.

Seriously though folks, today (as seems the norm with most days lately) was pouring rain. Earlier this spring we had unseasonably warm/hot temperatures with no sign of rain, just sun shining everywhere. This was following an unusually warm winter with little to no snow in the valley or up on the mountains. The local government implemented very strict water usage restrictions waaaay earlier than water restrictions are usually announced. We were told we could only water our yards 1 day per week, no washing cars allowed and no one with swimming pools would be allowed to put water in them this year. Oh, many people were up in arms about the later. The TV news showed people complaining, especially a fellow who installed swimming pools for a living and was about to loose his very lucrative business. Then suddenly the rain started to fall and doesn't seem to want to quit. It's been raining fairly heavily and steadily for several weeks now (forget just how long), the water reservoirs that had been low are now full and water restrictions have been changed yet still the rains fall.

May 31st... On this day last year, my brother Bernie's 50th Birthday, I was on a Memorial Motorcycle Ride for late friend Gord, husband of my good friend Wendy. It was a hot, sunshiny day with not a cloud in the sky. We rode for 249 km, stopping at some of Gord's favorite 'watering holes' which took us about 7 or 8 hours, and I had a sunburn by the time it was done. It was the first time I met Tuggy, we were introduced so he could 'pack' me, take me on this ride. It was an awesome day!! This year it is raining and would be a nasty day to be riding anywhere on a motorcycle. Last year it was Sunday... yesterday was Sunday and there was no sun in it, it was Rainday.

You just can not go by previous years weather patterns anymore, not like in past years when it was generally pretty much the same each year. April had rain, May was pretty much dry, June could be fairly wet. Now it's anybody's wild guess what the weather will be like... even the weatherman's.

Some Updates and 'Stuff'

My version of getting wholesale clothing is to shop at the 2nd hand stores. At this time in my life I more 'rent' my clothes. Since I joined TOPS on January 15 this year, I have lost around 15 pounds (go there in the next few minutes for our weekly meeting, so will be weighed on their scale and get an up to date number). Clothes do not fit me for all that long before it's time to go get smaller ones. I'm loving it. Well, okay, it could be faster and make me even happier, though at least it's steady and in the right direction. It is really great now that people are starting to notice and comment on my getting slimmer. Wednesday I was in the pool at the Rec. Center and a guy told me "you sure look hot in that outfit". It was a hot day weather wise so at first I thought he meant I looked over heated... then it hit me... I look hot!! Wow!! It's been many years since I heard a comment like that!! Oh ya, it may have been a pick up line, he was obviously out to 'get something'... and I still love it anyway!! I'll wear that bathing suit more often, lol.

Yesterday was a great day, though not the day I had originally planned. Cancelled my volunteer work (doing it today) and yoga with friends (next week). Hey, it's summertime, lots happening. Tuggy called and invited me to take a run on his Harley with him... YA! We went to a nearby town to eat Chinese for lunch, then back by back roads. Loved it. Then off to town to swim in the pool again... 12 laps (counted this time). I'm not a swimmer, but with mask/snorkel/flippers I can do quite well in the pool, and it's great exercise. Friend Lorraine went with me. She's not been swimming for years and very much enjoyed it, so will be back. This is a good thing as she needs the exercise too. After that I headed out to the same nearby town I'd been to for lunch, this time in my truck to visit my Mom. We took her car to another town to enjoy an evening sitting in the park listening to a live band. We ran into a cousin & wife there, so didn't get to listen much to the music, unfortunately. Also saw some friends of mine and took a short walk on the peir with them. Back to Mom's for tea, then home.

Well, guess I better be off. Want to be on time for TOPS. I planned to post some photos from my ride yesterday... will have to do it later this eve. I actually plan to be home for a few hours before bed this time... and hope to get to bed before 3 or 5am.

*** Weather ***

Current, at 1:00pm PDT

Temperature: 15.0°C
Dewpoint: 1.2°C
Humidity: 39%
Wind: WNW 8 km/h
Wind Chill:

(0°C = 32°F)

(To convert any temperature here to Fahrenheit)

Temperatures for Tuesday, May 5

Actual:
Max: 16.1°C
Min: 8.2 °C
Precip: 0.4 mm

Normal:
Max: 18°C
Min: 6°C

Rain during night, cloudy all day, some wind.

All temperatures quoted are copied from Environment Canada Weather Office unless otherwise stated. Thursday temps from the Weather Network.
.

>>> Weather <<<

Current, at 3:00am PDT

Temperature: 9.8°C
Dewpoint: 5.3°C
Humidity: 74%
Wind: Calm
Wind Chill:

(0°C = 32°F)

(To convert any temperature here to Fahrenheit)

Temperatures for Monday, May 4

Actual:
Max: 19.0°C
Min: 1.8 °C
Precip: 0.0 mm

Normal:
Max: 18°C
Min: 6°C

Sunny this morning when I woke up, then as the day progressed it got cloudy and very windy for awhile. It's calm now.

All temperatures quoted are copied from Environment Canada Weather Office unless otherwise stated. Thursday temps from the Weather Network.
.