Island life with Peter and Shelagh: Snow!

Thursday, Friday and Saturday, February 2-4

Downtown Port Alberni.

The weather guessers have predicted snow, lots of it, so we figured it would be smart to stock up on some groceries. The weather was nice and sunny but also cold and windy. We decided to take a walk in old downtown to see what kind of little shops are there. The old town needs a good shot in the arm and as more people settle here it might just happen. New houses are being built in all shapes and sizes for all budgets and levels of energy. We especially like the smaller houses built close together in little communities. They will create a good neighbourhood without the need for endless yard maintenance.

A nice meeting place, privately owned, but shared with the city.

Too cold for coffee outside

At city hall.

Some nice murals in town.

Just walking around you see that in summer this town would be a fun place to stroll and have a coffee. There are some nice places to stop and relax outside and watch the world go by. There are quite a few shops that sell used stuff and antiques as well as clothing. We came upon a nice looking German restaurant and decided to have lunch there before we go back to the mainland. We would have walked more, but the cold wind was just a bit too much. So off to the grocery store for some shopping. We just stocked up on the basics and headed home. If this snow materializes we want to be able to just stay put and leave the car in the driveway.

Friday afternoon was nice with some relaxing and eventually dinner prep. I made one of our favourite dinners, "Chicken Divine", basically a casserole of broccoli, chicken and a mushroom curry sauce with cheddar cheese melted on top. Served over rice, delicious.

An evening on NetFlix followed by a good sleep led to the discovery that the weather guessers were right! An enormous amount of snow had piled up outside, and for once I was happy that we had taken appropriate measures. This snow warning is in effect for the next four days...

Even in this area of town our streets were plowed twice on Saturday, something that does not happen in Metro Vancouver where only the major roads get plowed. Tonight we will have Chicken Quesadillas, all prepared in the first week of our stay here. The freezer is stocked with many dinners and we have no need to go anywhere. We are snug as a bug in a rug.

The dyke, with lots of the white stuff.

Our Port Alberni home.

Shelagh clearing the snow off the cedar hedges.

Bodhi loves the snow and jumps right in. He takes high leaps to cover the deeper parts and scurries back and forth with his nose below the surface. The nice thing about walking a dog in the snow is that it's easy to see where he has left his business... More snow in the forecast for the next two days, then the rains will come...