Day One.
Immersing one's self in Island Life.
Gotta tell you, it's beautiful here on Vancouver Island.
Cooled off last night to about 13c and then the temp soared to the high 20's.
More of that- and hotter, over the next 5 days.
What a welcome!
I think I had told you our furnace wasn't working and the hot water was anything but, however, one call- made by my Hubbie Tom this morning to Revy RV in Duncan and within minutes Colin
walked us through both the furnace and hot water heater over the phone. Such great Customer Service!
Turns out, the furnace just needed the switch flicked to the left to "on". It was a stiff little toggle at the top of the thermostat. I saw it the other day and could make out the word "off" but I thought if I forced it to the left, it would break. Colin said to Tom: It will be stiff!"- and it was!
He was on speakerphone...
We now have heat. The furnace started immediately.
Lovely heat for chilly mornings- especially when stepping out of the shower- like in Calgary a few days ago, when the air was crisp and I had goosebumps on top of goosebumps and my ***** were shrivelled like Old November Cabbages!
Too much information...sorry!!
Don't ask what "Old November Cabbages" look like. Just use your imagination.
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| Hmmm, Cabbages....Oh!....OH MY!! You are so Disgusting Young Man! |
Then, a few seconds later through Tom's iPhone, Colin told me exactly what to look for under the kitchen sink where the hot water heater is located.
Like, I mean...who knew it was there??
I didn't.
Two levers, both horizontal. The third lever up and down in line with the hot water hose- and Voila!!
I can actually have some heat in my shower in the morning.
I am excited!!
Small things.
Mid-Morning we had a meeting with Joanne the interior designer of our new house and "the"gal who knows about all the houses and what goes where. Joanne even told us that she thought it was an Air Canada pilot moving in next door who had been transferred. Her husband is an IT specialist.
That's exciting!
The house is moving right along and we're very, very happy with what we saw.
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| Looking through our Great Room to where the Fireplace will be surrounded by windows |
We met Brian the sight foreman and he toured us through the framework of our new home. We discussed our Utility Bath/Powder room inside on the main level and in the backyard we looked for the best location for our heat pump and BarBee.
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| Rear View of our New, Custom Built Home in West Duncan. She's a Beauty! |
After an hour or so with Joanne and Brian we strolled up the street to look at a pump placement on another home. That took quite a while to stroll up the street with the puppies. Many people came out of their homes to chat with us and welcome us- albeit a bit prematurely, to the neighbourhood.
They were all so nice and we feel more relaxed meeting a handful of residents. Actually, many people knew of our coming to the Island and to Duncan. Here I was thinking of placing a full page newspaper ad to announce our Island Arrival when a resident of our development- Tina, whom we spoke with back in July, prepared our way by boasting about our gardening abilities- as well as how nice we were and what good neighbours we will make.
As Doctor Frank 'N Furter said: "How nice!!
It was a good morning and now we don't feel like strangers and feel quite comfortable driving around Duncan and chatting to people here and there.
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| A 3 Star Topiary. Yes...I want it|! |
We made a visit to Dinter Nurseries in the afternoon. Bustling, busy and chock full of plants, whereas the nurseries and garden centres back in Ontario are done. Earlier in the day- after chatting to new neighbours, we met the landscapers- a Father and Son team. They never talked about a fall/winter deadline for planting and suggested a Dinter visit.
Island Life. ~sigh~
Both Dad and Son were excited to help us design the new gardens. They were truly impressed when I showed them our Pine Tree House Garden garden shots.
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| A Palm at Dinters, This one about $1500 but 7 or 8 feet tall |
Funny, with all the conversations we had today in our new neighbourhood, in stores and on the street, we have barely chatted to the folks in Country Maples RV Park where we are making our temporary home until the end of September. In all the other parks people chatted freely to us and said Good Morning or Good Evening.
Here at Country Maples we get long looks, a bit of staring, indifference and side glances. Just a different crowd I guess, so, I think "Fuck 'Em!"- with a big smile on my face of course.
Gosh Rob...where do you get that language from?
That "salty", lacross-playing Father of mine, I guess.
Probably they're all jealous of the way my tanned legs look in summer shorts.
