"LOTS" TO SEE

Saturday on Denman Island was glorious! It's been awhile since we had a full day of sunshine. We took the opportunity to spend some time on the 5.1 acre lot (which we now have an accepted offer on). The place has a good feel to it... it faces south-west towards Baines sound which will will take in some spectacular sunsets. I took this pan shot to get a good idea of what the view will be like. The pan-picture shows that the land is dished; it's really quite flat with a gradual slope to the bluff line. All the trees in the picture are on the property as it extends well below the bluff, (about 2 acres). The clearing is currently about an acre in size; the picture of Kari standing where the front door would be, is taken from the edge of the bluff. We still have a couple of hurdles to jump before we can take possession.... first we have to sell something and secondly we need to be convinced of a good clean water supply. If all goes well, I'll be building a house of some sort, sometime this year. At first, it seemed overwhelming, but I think it's the only opportunity like this that I'll ever get. It should keep me busy for a year and all the labour that I provide will be tax free. We're hopeful that we can keep the bank out of it, so there will be little pressure on completions etc. There will be lots more on this subject in future posts. (picture to the right is the view that we'll have once clearing is complete.)




Here's a few more pictures shot during that sunny, frosty Saturday morning. I've also vowed to take my chainsaw while driving the island, as on numerous occasions I've been forced to back-track because of trees across the road.


I haven't heard from Curt this week; the last I heard, he had a surfboard and was going to be camping on the beach. As it is a grey, rainy Monday, a NZ beach sounds like a good place to be.




DAVE'S (cheap) WINE CORNER

During the week on a big trip to Courtenay, we picked up a couple of the Value wine award winners mentioned in the last post's Wine Corner. First we opened the "Tormaresca Paiara Negroamaro". It was quite funky and had a gasoline taste to it.... Kari wouldn't try it as she said it smelled like sweat socks. After a glass and a half, it wasn't getting any better and I decided it was corked.... Although the cork rate for synthetic corked bottles is quite low, (I know this because I've researched it), I'm almost 50% sure that the bottle was corked. We now have to decide whether to invest another $11 to give it fair chance or to write it off as "plonk". Next I opened the "Castillo de Monséran Garnacha" and it was yummy. A nice fruit forward, summery red, light in texture and colour and similar to a Pinot Noir. This one I recommend for summer sipping around the BBQ; Look for it in the "Spain" section of your LBC.

Flip This House

Tired of the rat-race? City life getting you down? Would you like a nice ocean view home in a rural setting....?? have I got 2 places for you HERE or HERE !!





As the crow flies the preferred destination of choice (5 acres) is exactly one kilometer from the house.... by car about 6K. The rectangle on the map is the lot... the dot is the our current residence. The view from the lot is... not too shabby, it just needs a little logging, I mean selective clearing.

Small people whining

Another week of strange weather eh? Wind, & sun for the most part here, with a dusting of snow.... we dodged the snow storm that hit the mainland and on either side of us here on Denman... lots of snow in Campbell River and Nanaimo... , but we had our share of wind gusts, and of course, power outages.... which convinced me on Tuesday to head into Nanaimo to Costco to buy a generator, (I had seen them there on Saturday, but resisted the temptation)....of course they had just sold the last one. Blast! Clay can you check your Costco please, (it could be "carry-on" the next time you come over).
Regardless of the weather here, Gumboots seem to be the official footwear for three out of four seasons. Trying to break from tradition, Kari & I bought each other Merrell waterproof hikers for Christmas.... Friday, Kari was in Vancouver, so it was the perfect day for me to pack up the K9 and head to the beach for a hike. It was an awesome day, the beach was deserted and the hikers performed admirably.

Curt Update: Heard from CJ... he's out on a foray and is staying here. (tenting it)
Says this place reminds him of Long Beach.

On the home front, small projects like puttering and painting around the house are keeping me busy for now, but I may go a little squirrelly when these projects run out. Kari's job is quite busy right now and on top of that, she has been given several more accounts. This may put some stress on the gruelling 3-day work week; at least at busy times of the year.


This Summer, we received a Welcome Wagon Package that included a coupon for a free "premise fee" at a local wine making place. Before Christmas, we stopped into "Grape Expectations", and found out the coupon is worth $48 bucks... and we had wanted to make some nice red wine for next Christmas. We were told about a high-end limited release Cab coming out in January, so we signed up and will be starting that next week. As the Chilean Merlot we last made, has fallen the victim of early, multiple, disappointing tastings it will stay on the shelf until at least April. The Chardonnay we made last spring, fell to the same early drinking fate; Meanwhile, we simply had to find something to fill the gap and remedy our poor discipline. Admittedly, I'm cheap and I know nothing about wine, so I set out to change that. The following segment is the result of the many minutes it takes to become a wine expert.... (without changing the "cheap" part).

Dave's Wine Corner.
Vancouver Magazine's International Wine Awards have just been released in print. They list the best wines in several categories. Although they didn't place first, the wines listed below ranked right up there with MUCH more expensive wines. Blind tasting does that, doesn't it?
Then the judges were asked: “What’s the best value for money?—no matter what the grape, region or price". Here was the answer....
Finca Los Primos Malbec, $9.95; Castillo de Monséran Garnacha, $9.99; Cono Sur Viognier, $10.99; Tormaresca Paiara Negroamaro, $10.99; de Bortoli Petite Sirah, $11.99; Vina Chilcaya Chardonnay $11.99.

(Cono Viognier is currently on sale @ $9.99 - LCB) The judges further comment on this wine: "World’s best value Viognier?"
Meanwhile, Gismondi (wine expert, Vancouver Sun) says of Cono Viognier: Floral, lime, mineral, mango, honey aromas. Ripe, round, rich but elegant with moderate acidity. Spicy, ginger, orange peel, honey and mineral flavours with a touch of citrus rind bitterness. Fine solid, fresh style for white meats and seafood. Great value. It shows up again at the Value Wine Awards 2006.
Meanwhile, I say: I don't even know what a Sommelier is; (but we should pull our troops outa there). I think there may be a run on this stuff, so we stocked up. Yup, it has a screw-cap, but I can live with that! While buying it, I noticed a California wine retailing @ $36 that had a screw-cap; what's the world coming to? Hung up on the screw-cap dilemma like me? This article is assisting me with the mental anguish of being cork challenged. Once you've read it, you'll be ditching all your investments in corkscrew ventures. Maybe soon we'll all be able to store our wine upright..... (I digress). I'm going to source out the rest of these proclaimed "best buys" in the near future... anyone want to split a case?

and all that jazz...

Happy New Year...and all that jazz.
Thanks for the calls to "remind" me that I have neglected to blog for 2 weeks....I feel so loved! Yes, I know the last time I blogged James Brown was still feeling good.

Through the grapevine I heard that not everyone got the Christmas presents they asked for.... So I'd like to take up a collection to fill those stocking voids...Marcus didn't get his confidence; Brittany had asked for panties; Stephen needed that history book that explained that the last three Prime Ministers had already raised the gay marriage thing. (Maybe we can all chip in a get him a new environmental policy while we're at it); George got his wake-up call, but needs a new pair of binoculars to see the future. BC Place asked for band-aids, and Denman needed that clapper, damn it!

Kicked off the season with a whirlwind trip to the big city on the 23rd. Rounded up as many kids as possible (4 fer 6 ain't bad) for lunch and a well intended gift exchange. (see rant, last blog, not revisiting that). It was very enjoyable and everyone was in good spirits... every indication is that next year will be a Denman Island Christmas.
The first "kidless" Christmas was enthusiastically kicked off by sleeping in and taking a long walk around noon. Then off to the Kingfisher for the famous "sea food buffet"....click here to see it. Topped off with a bottle of NK'Mip Pinot Blanc, it was a very nice meal.... Would I hurry back? No, I don't think so, not because the food was not wonderful... it's just the buffet thing... you kinda feel rushed; like you might miss something... I think I prefer a more relaxed eating format. (the food was great though!) Might have to try the wine-pairing dinner. Sorry for the large format on the menu to the right... but you have to check out the dessert selection! Kari rightly noted that my dessert plate was in fact, larger than my dinner plate.... ya, so...
Kari & I headed down to Victoria on the 30th and had a great Chinese dinner (Ho-Tong not Ho-Ting) with Krista and her guy Dave, along with Sue & Bill and Mom. Consensus was Dave passed all the tests.

New Years' Eve was @ Dunsmuir Lodge where the "small people" had a great meal, great wine, great conversation about the meal and the wine (and nobody had to drive home....) They also had king-sized beds. Some of us made it until midnight and were safely tucked into said beds by 12:10. I should have a pic of this (not the bed, but the dinner) however the jpg has not arrived by email yet.
Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, and small people talk about wine.
Fran Lebowitz US writer and humorist (1950 - )
Yes, we've been rather small lately.... speaking of which... check out this link to find some of the best import wines under $15, (my budget). If you can get by some screw-caps and synthetic cork, there's some winners here.
We returned via Saltspring Island, (the Malahat by-pass) and had nice lunch at a waterfront pub with other hangover-ites. Checked out a rammed-earth house, which was pretty cool and the first one we've seen. Supposedly they can last several hundred (maybe a thousand years) and are not much more to build, (than stick or straw) not to mention environmentally freindly and highly energy efficient.

Then back home to a rotation of wind, rain and sun (or any combination thereof). The animals were happy to see us and all had been on best bevavior for Fireweed and Mike. I'm glad to be back to our little island and looking foreward to having visitors over the the long upcoming holiday drought. Sign up soon.

Denman Island Yule Tide

The season is upon us and for the first time ever, I have not purchased a single Christmas Present and have made it as clear as possible, that nothing should be bought for me. I don't feel guilty or stingy....because of course, we're giving some cash so the (adult children) recipients can go and buy their own stuff... (and of course, [Kari bought] presents for Ashley... no childhoods shall be destroyed here). BUT, if I had my way, Christmas would not be about stuff, (or cash) but about get-togethers of family, friends and communities. It's not that I'm feeling humbug or overly commercialized; it's just about wanting the holiday season to be about something other that accumulating "stuff". If I really wanted stuff, I would go get stuff. This isn't a rant, really; besides, I have no room for more stuff. This year, living here has sheltered me completely from commercial store-fronts that depend on guilt (or generosity) driven credit cards to make or break their fiscal year end. I'm feeling the "spirit" quite well, thank-you, simply by being included in community and neighbourhood events, (of which there is no shortage). My only regret is that I have no creative or artistic abilities to pass on as gifts, as so many people here do ...(I may work on that).

The Denman Island Yule-Tide is as follows:

2:34 am ...3.4
10:03am..16.4
4:16pm...10.6
8:35pm...12.5

*All Yule Tide heights are measured in "feet" and are in **Pacific Standard Time**

No word from CJ in NZ. Perhaps he'll call on Christmas.

We dropped into an Open House held by our local Realtors, (we're really popular there) on Wednesday and enjoyed drinking their wine and eating their food etc. We entered a draw and guess who won the prize.... a lovely carving set. More stuff, I can't get away from it. Unfortunately the inaugural carving will have to wait as we aren't having a turkey this year.

The weather looks like it will be decent for awhile now and we'll be heading off island tomorrow, (Saturday) to visit the kids in Langley for a Christmas lunch, then blitzen back to the island. This makes for a long and tiring day, but we don't do it often. Between the holidays, we may be found in Courtenay looking for stuff to buy and feeling sorry for ourselves for not buying any presents.

New years' resolutions??? Well, there is some time to think about them, isn't there? Mine may be to give more of myself; anyone who knows me, knows this may be hard to achieve; but resolutions should be a stretch, shouldn't they?

Best of the season to all, and if need be, (and it makes you happy), give and receive lots of stuff.
We shall be partaking in some family festivities which include, but isn't limited to, enjoying each others' company and a goblet or two.
I blog you a Merry Christmas!

wind , gas, & water

The storm that was supposed to hit us on Thursday suddenly turned right and missed us altogether. Those of you in the southern part of the island and the lower mainland know the outcome and got to experience some of what hit us the previous Monday. We got our cable back on Friday and I was amazed at the desrtuction at Stanley Park. I guess our storm was well reported on the news and was seen by most everybody except Denmanites. Although we had our power back on four days after the storm, some people here were without power until yesterday. Some phone and cable lines will not be repaired until early January. Most of the hydro crews have left and are replaced by logging trucks mopping up some of the roadsides. There is a lot of firewood being cut this week. I've included a few more storm aftermath shots, one of Ashley & her friend Stephanie standing by one uprooted tree; there were several in a row along Lacon Road. The culprit that hit the centre of the island was apparently a waterspout, (a type of tornado). It was about a quarter mile across and several hundred feet high, (within a few weeks this story will be re-told as much larger). It was clocked at Chrome Island with winds of 177 kph. We were hit with another storm last night (Dec 18th) with winds of about 70kph, this would have been impressive before, but now is considered an ocean breeze.

This is our first Denman Island Christmas Tree. It is a free range, organic tree; no chemical pesticides or fertilizers were used to grow this tree. It was not sheared each year at a tree farm using minimum wage labour; no fossil fuel used to transport it, and no corporation profited by it's sale. It is truly a "green" tree and It's from my backyard...

Saturday was the "Seniors Christmas Benefit Dinner", it is held at the Seniors Hall by the Denman Island Seniors Museum Society. For $20 you get a full turkey dinner, a live "big band" with dancing and island conversation about the storm we all endured. And no, we weren't the youngest people there!!

Sunday was the "Island" Christmas dinner. I'm not sure how many people attended, but there was a steady stream of turkey coming out of the kitchen for a good two hours. The hall was packed, but there seemed to be enough seating as people came and went over the evening. All the dinner was donated; the salads and deserts were provided on a pot-luck basis. Santa showed up about 7:00 p.m. with prezzies for all the kids. Now that I'm all turkey'd out (and a little gassy, turkey does that, doesn't it), I'm looking forward to the Christmas dinner at the Kingfisher seafood buffet. We've never been, but have been told it's second to none.

We have house, dog, cat, rat sitters coming to stay here while we head down to the big "V" for a New Year's bash. Fireweed & Mike, have a house & pet sitting biz that is very reasonable and they're very nice people. Fireweed is the organizer of the Vegan Potluck which we have attended and Mike heads up MEOW and Enviro-Mike

My two water system monitoring buds have left the island for Christmas leaving me in charge of the system. The good news: everyone is still alive, The bad news: all the power failures have affected the chlorine levels and I didn't take notes on my 5 minute lesson, on how to adjust the equipment. Until the 29th, it's just me and "Rusty", he's all topped up at 14,000 gallons of crystal clear H2O and I'm told he's much prettier on the inside, (we all know people like that). This summer Rusty will be stripped down and re-painted... I'm thinking something tie-dyed.

Don't forget to check out the Denman photo album... link to the right...

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,
For the most part, I’ve been a good boy this year. I live on Denman Island, so please bring me a generator for Christmas.
Regards, Davey.

Kari said it best, “in the city, you feel like man is in control of things, here, there’s no doubt it’s nature that’s in control”

She blew in on Sunday night with torrents of rain onto a roof with a missing gutter (thanks to the snow slide last week); then the wind picked up Monday morning and seemed to climax around 11:00 a.m. with gusts up to 70k. The power flickered for a while, and then died at 1:30. Shortly after it seemed to have blown itself out, but no, no such luck, around 4:00 p.m. she put it into overdrive and things started going sideways, literally. We went to meet Ashley at the ferry and the road was riddled with debris. Parents huddled in the waiting room to get out of the wind and stinging ice pellets. “There’s no way the ferry is going to come across in this”, I was told by an off-duty ferry employee just as the Kahloke came out of the fog. That’s when the steel street-light pole folded into the ocean and I decided being inside, looking out of a sheet glass window, while 100k+ winds hit it straight on, was not the brightest thing. The canoe that is chained at the roadside became a windsock, the cross-member of a power-pole snapped and signs bent in half. Within the 15 minutes (that I was at the ferry landing) two trees fell across the power lines along the road home. The school bus in front of me could just squeak under the power lines and tree.
Tuesday - No power! Luke warm shower & Coleman cooking.
Wednesday - No Power! Went on a reconnaissance mission around the island. McFarlan Road was a war zone. Shown in the pic with the barricade across the road, I was able to return later that night. Simply indescribable. Hundreds of trees criss-crossing the road mixed with cables, phone, and power lines in a tangled mess. By 7:00 pm the truck could squeeze through the chain saw created tunnel.... just big enough for residents to get out for provisions. Thank goodness that there were no fires as there is no way a truck could have navigated the road. These pictures are not a good indication of the real damage, but gives you an idea of what things were like between Monday and Wednesday when BC Hydro began to appear in force.
The picture of the school bus squeezing under the power lines and tree is on the main road by the ferry. The bent speed limit sign gives an idea of the power of the wind.

Thursday.... Had to get off the island for a small dose of sanity, heat and light. Walking off the ferry @ Buckley Bay I counted 14 Hydro trucks with baskets.



Power ON at 3:00 P.M. Everything in the freezer has thawed and is now being cooked and re-frozen. The washer & dryer are working full out. It began snowing about 1:00P.M. and by 7:00 there is about 5 inches on the ground. The weather forecast for tonight??? 100K winds, driving rain and no doubt a power failure. We are lucky as most of Denman and all of Hornby are still out. I beleive that the power lines for Hornby run along McFarlan Rd., so they will not have power anytime soon. Thanks to everyone that called to say they saw it on TV... BTW we have no cablevision yet, but hey, we got lights!! If we can get through tonight the Christmas dinner should be able to go ahead as planned and will be a happier topic for the next post.
Pics of the resident pheasant & rainbow were taken on Wednesday between rain squalls.






Also included a pic of our "camp kitchen"