Snowed in on the island

Beautiful Patricia Bay, November 27
With a record-breaking snow dump in the last couple of weeks (and record-breaking numbers of people without power), I have had to balance the practical issues of shoveling the driveway, digging out the car, driving icy streets, power outages, staff unable to get to work, and malfunctioning computers - with preparation for two big events... an Open House at our office, celebrating Xmas and CORI's 20 years... and a grand meeting of ShoreZone partners at the Nature Conservancy in Juneau, Alaska.

First the practical issues of all this beautiful snow... tree down on power line near my house in North Saanich


My back yard... check out the bird feeder. To keep the birds fed, I put a tray of seeds near the kitchen glass doors. It only took them a little while to find it, and thereafter I was treated to a morning line-up of finches and towhees looking in.


These little guys didn't seem to mind the snow... they are among the wood sculptures that my landlord Richard makes for the local wineries.


This is my landlord and his home-made snow shovel... I can't tell you how great it works! That's a wicker TV tray top nailed to the bottom of an arbutus branch.


In between power outages I made foccaccia and greek salad to contribute to the CORI Open House.


Friday, Dec. 1... the CORI Open House... the party was a great success... lots of food, beer, wine, and a stream of visitors from 4 til 9 pm. I was so busy talking and mingling and meeting people that I only took one photo. This cake is adorned with our new logo, which my friend Carissa in Santa Cruz designed for us this past year.


Speaking of which, Carissa also helped design our new web pages, which I just posted last week before going to Juneau. Still in progress, but an incredible imporovement over our old ones! Thanks C!