Well I'll be darned.
I had no idea it could get this cold out here on the coast. I had heard from locals that it snowed once every four winters or so, but nobody said anything about the snow staying on the ground! Or that temperatures would remain below freezing for more than a day.
The snow began falling on Sunday but it cleared up by noon when the sun came out. They (as in 'They' who know Things) predicted lows around -6 degrees Celsius. I didn't believe it would happen. Denial, much?
Then it snowed again on Monday. I waited all afternoon for the temperature to increase and for the sun to come out but it didn't! In fact, I could barely keep the house warm because, it seems, it is not insulated for such frigid temperatures, even when the wood stove is going full steam. In fact, it was around -5 all day.
Back to the cold front, the freezing temperatures remain here. The tires on our truck are not so tready these days, so when I took a drive the other day, I chose a route that would not have me going up hills that are too steep. Even in wet conditions, the two hills near us cause me to spin out and consider shifting to 4WD to get past an intersection. I know, I know, we need winter tires. Can't afford 'em. Maybe Santa Clause will bring?
I just watched Miracle on 34th Street. I had long known this was a Christmas classic and was sure I had seen it, but I just watched (again?) now (the recent version, with Dylan McDermott), and wow they do a good job of making one believe in Santa. No wonder it's been a classic for 60 years.
I have been hoping to have the family here for Christmas, I think I mentioned. Dan said he'd mentioned it to family members, and then I did. An early response from a family member set me off into despair, for it seemed like no one would be interested and it would be really difficult to manage. But! But! I never used to get really excited about Christmas - my family didn't put a lot of effort into Christmas so I never realized what all the hoo-ha was about. When I met Dan and had Christmas with his family for the first time, I got it. It was so much fun! If the family doesn't come here for Christmas... I'm not sure we can make the drive for Victoria - partly because of the aforementioned tire issue, but also - we can't afford the gas! I'm only working about 6 hours a week right now and money is very tight.
So today I was given hope that it is possible, that most of the family is up for it and we're just waiting on word from the ones on the mainland. I had great fun thinking about how we would arrange the house to accommodate everyone, we currently have enough beds for 9 so we are short by one, we have enough towels, enough mugs, enough plates...
We also found out that we can get a local source of firewood for WAY cheaper than we paid for before. In the spring we paid something like $380 to have two cords of wood brought from Port Alberni. If we haul it ourselves, we can fill our truck for $65! That will last us about two months. I sure do love the wood stove. So does the kitty. She has been sleeping right next to it for the last two days.
Sorry for the long rambling post. I realize it's been a week or more since I wrote and was way overdue for a post!
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