The
Squamidian Report – April 3 / 10
Issue #410
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Funny how the weather is so often opposite out on the west coast as compared to that of Ontario and on toward the east. If we have it nice, the east has it not-so-nice. If we are having warm sunny days, they will have cool wet days. And of course, if they are having a warm sunny stretch we will inevitably have cold and wet. Just seems to be the way it is. And this week is proof again. Because so much of the east has been enjoying out of season warm sunshine we have been stuck with crap. Its been colder and wetter here than throughout most of the winter. Good thing our blossoms and early flowers area pretty well over with because its been too miserable out to enjoy them.
Heck, by mid week the snowline had moved down to the lower half of the mountains around us and our temperatures were lower than they had been back in early January. Now the winter that wasn’t won’t go away. By the end of the week the North Shore Mountains and the mountains right up to Whistler were getting a couple of feet of new snow. The snowline is right above us. Kind of neat how you can look at the mountains and see the temperature line that separates snow and rain. Actually it does not separate anything. It simply visually shows the temperature boundary between freezing and not freezing. The precipitation starts falling as snow but melts as it passes through the boundary.
The late winter storms have been causing havoc with the ferry schedules. Long weekends bring out all the travelers who want to cross the Strait of Georgia and the ferries tend to be booked solid well ahead of time. However, the high gale force winds have forced the cancellations of many of the crossings. So people end up spending a good portion of their holiday weekend sitting in their cars in a long lineup on a parking lot. Might as well stay home.
Yet very unexpectedly and not forecast at all was when the sun came out on Wednesday afternoon. It was supposed to be another bleak cold rainy day but somehow a break in the overcast found its way to the coast. The sun came out and the temperature jumped from 7 all the way up to 14. Needles to say, Ryan hurried down from Whistler after his work and I was of course already here. We climbed on the bikes and went out for a nice ride. One constant with west coast weather is that when the sun goes down, so does the temperature. That’s why we carry heated vests with us all riding season long. Never know when you might need them. We were fine but we were talking to a couple that were from Whistler and were out for their first ride on their new Ultra Classic. They were not dressed for the ride back up. Don’t know how they made out but I’d imagine they were pretty chilly by the time they got home because by late evening it was down below zero.
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There has been a squirrel hanging around here lately. We don’t see many squirrels because they are food for so many of our local predators, both airborne and four footed. Our squirrels tend to be small creatures, about the size of an Ontario red squirrel but without the chainsaw attitude. This particular one has been dining on the seeds and nuts we put out for the birds. We spot it once in a while as it very cautiously scoots out onto the deck to pick up whatever it can find. As long as it does not become a nuisance we’re fine with it hanging around. If it does become a nuisance I’ll feed it to a cougar.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
It’s Easter weekend and I want to start off today by wishing each and every one of you a very Happy Easter! Seems like it’s only once a year I get to do that so I figured I’d make it a good one and say it first!
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The weather for our area is indeed akin more to summertime than to the first of April. I managed to get my motorcycle out of the garage and take it for a “Spring” spin for a couple of hours this afternoon and it did indeed feel like summer out there! I can only hope that the next 8 months are close to the same weather wise. I’m sure Doug would be jealous right now if he were here sampling this beautiful 20c weather full of sunshine. I think the west coast or at least the Vancouver area is only in the single digits with threats of rain in the forecast this week. I don’t wish bad weather on anyone so I sincerely hope that things clear up and warm up out west real soon so Doug and Sue can get out on their new bike as well. I was reluctant to head out with the way my left hand has been feeling lately but I think the exercise of squeezing the clutch on the bike has helped to free up my swollen and aching knuckles and hopefully it’ll continue to be a progressive form of therapy for my arthritic left hand. This pain is relatively new and I’m hoping that continuing to use the sore hand will help stave off the development of any further crippling effects this disease may have. I’m up against the wall with this one though, because on my mother’s side of the family her mother had it in both hands, my mother had it in both hands and her brother also suffered with it later in life. I remember reaching out to shake hands with my uncle Ken when we’d meet on the street and he’d quickly say “not too hard, not too hard” as our hands came together for the shake. Now I can appreciate the agony he was in with his bout of arthritis and can only pray that I don’t suffer too greatly with this very sore disorder. So far, it’s just in my left hand and a couple of knuckles in my feet but they’re not too bad when I compare them with the hand knuckles. Oh well, it’s just something I’ll have to live with so I promise not to complain from here on in. However, if any of you know of a remedy for this affliction, please don’t hesitate to pass it on. I’d be forever grateful!
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The early arrival of good weather here in KW has given Carole and I a chance to get the lawn and patio stuff out early this year and Carole has also managed to get most of the spring conditioning of the gardens done well in advance too. It’s great to get that head start so Carole can have a nice long summer of enjoying the results of her hard work on the landscaping. She’s always had a beautiful looking garden out back as well as in front of the house but other years it seams she just gets it the way she wants it and fall sets in! With an extra month or two this year it’s kind of like a reward for her for all the planning, digging, weeding and trimming she goes through to get things so nice for our enjoyment. Now if I can just get the back lawn repaired where those darned moles made WW I style trenches all over the place this winter. They sure did make a mess! I’m going to wait about another month before I pack them with good topsoil and reseed the area and compact the entire back lawn. I’m going to rent a power plate tamper as I have other years when the spring thaw makes the lawn look like a battleground. There are so many bumps and hollows that tamping the entire lawn is the only to flatten it out so we’ve got an even green area for the summer.
If I rent a roller, they don’t seem to be heavy enough to do the job and the back lawn is too narrow with curved edges lining all the gardens to accommodate a riding roller so the power tamper is the only solution to the problem. I know that many people say that rolling or tamping your lawn tends to close all the pores so the grass can’t breathe and the rain doesn’t soak in but I’ve done it many years and have never had a problem. I don’t like it when my lawn mower skips and jumps all over the place as I mow the lawn so tamping is an easy way to rectify that and besides, the nice flat surface makes the grass look nice and even when you cut it, kinda like a brushcut on a kids head!
We’re getting to the end of the major things to be done to our place now. We’ve just ordered new windows to replace the last two that needed to be changed. Last summer I finally put curbs in along side the driveway and that makes a nice separation between the driveway and the lawn. Curbs tend to give the yard a nice finished look and clean up the edges of the grass. I was also hoping the curbs would make a nice edge guide for the snow blower this past winter but I only got to use the blower once and it wasn’t enough of a trial run to make me appreciate the new curbs as a guide. Oh well, maybe next winter! I’m about to put the blower back into the shed but I’m afraid to in case I jinx the early summer weather we’re enjoying! LOL! I think I’ll just wait a few weeks longer! I’ve seen some pretty heavy snowstorms in April other years and I wouldn’t want to spoil the good weather we’re enjoying this year. Let’s all cross our fingers….. if they’re not too sore……..for a long sunny and perfectly temperatured summer this year!
That’s it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now……. GREG.
PS: Something To Think About>
Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good!
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Have a good one..
the doug
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