Snow Day

Shortly arriving home, it snowed.  Yes snow.  For those who are from the other parts of Canada and Northern USA you know all too much about snow and the horrible few months of blizzards and freezing rain.

Snow in the Neighborhood

The snow was not all that great by standards most of Canada would use but on the Island it is enough to hold up the traffic, and cause a snow day for most children. It was pretty much gone by the next day but when you don't get it all that frequently, snow becomes a big deal. 

Wicked Weather

So I had some leave to burn before the end of the fiscal year ( march 31) and decided that I would hop on a plane and go home to see my sweetie.  Little did I know when I bought my tickets in November that it would be wild two days of snow and delays.

I left Petawawa at noon for a drs appointment in Gatineau, a little town across the river from Ottawa and it took forever to get there- two hours for a normally 1 and 15 min drive. The roads were better than I was expecting until I hit Arnprior where the highway doubles into four lanes and becomes the 417.  That piece wasn't plowed so it was heavy going.  It was even more troublesome considering I had decided to up my water intake and I needed to un-hydrate.  If it wasn't for the fact I was wearing my military uniform, I would have pulled over on to the side road and taken care of business. But decorum won out over the needs of my bladder.

Following the dr's, I ventured to the hotel and parked myself for the evening. Sadly I was so wound up from the week and the drive, I was up every hour or so, checking the clock.  I arrived at the airport and that is where the day really got interesting. First, the plane to Toronto was delayed 30 min, then 1 hr 30 min due to the big storm that ripped through the area the day before. We finally got underway and I missed my connector to Calgary by two hours which meant another wait on top of a 3 hr 48 min flight.

Again upon arrival in Calgary I missed by flight to Victoria and had to wait 6 hrs. Now if you know me, you know I hate wasting time.  Okay mentally speaking these delays are good ways to learn about patience and I am okay with that, but I like to have something to do while I practice patience.  After a while book reading doesn't cut it, and walking 3 km of the airport terminals isn't quite the cardio workout that my body is needing after missing yesterdays pt session. Oh to have a small cutting matt, ruler and fabric!  There is a nice piece of floor in front of me where I could set up and cut out the next project, not only using time wisely but getting a bit further ahead.

Storm is coming

  So since I can't do that, I watched the clouds.  I saw a storm blow into Calgary, so fast its kind of hard to believe.  We had clear blue sky and sun and all of a sudden a swirling cloud looking like an anvil zooms in and you can't see the hills behind the airport. In less that 7 min the airport was engulfed in cloud and snow flurries were happening. 20 min later it was gone. What wild wicked weather. And due to this weather, it took a whole day to get home.  In the number of hours spent in the air or airport I could have gone from Ottawa to Victoria, three times!

Storm Hits

Freak February Snow

When I got up this morning there was snow coming down in big white fluffy flakes.  It had been snowing long enough that the neighbors roof was covered thickly. In our driveway it was 6" deep.  I drove without incident to the chapel, though I must admit the cover of Ocean Blvd was tricky to navigate as was the Belmont hill that folks were stalling out on.  Slow and steady but I made it.  Once there I found that the snow was 8" deep and showing no signs of slowing down.  I know because I took my ruler to the middle of the lawn and measured it. (I had a photo but its too grainy to add.)  It didn't take long for my foot prints to get filled in. 
The disappointing thing was how long it took work to call it a snow day.  By then I had already put in 3 hours of work, had no connectivity for my computer and the phone was cutting in and out due to water in the line.  To save myself some hassle tomorrow, I shoveled the snow and ended up shoveling 1/4 of the roadway form the church so I could get out.  I guess I can say I got my physical fitness in for the day. I wonder if I have enough energy left to shovel my house driveway a few times today. But the blessing is after I get some work for church done, I can quilt earlier!

Let it Snow

The view from the side of the house

Would you believe it?  We got sent home from work shortly after noon today due to a storm warning that was bringing more snow.  Now this area of Canada seldom gets snow so when we do its a big deal.
I wanted to clobber the lady ahead of me in line at the grocers on the weekend who said she had 3 bald tires.  Now we do get more rain than snow, but this is Canada people.  We do get snow and need to be prepared.  Perhaps we will have it for a few days as it shortly melts or turns into rains.  Last year we had snow for a whole 7 days during Christmas holidays.  Maybe we will be lucky and have snow for this Christmas too!


  The good thing about today's snow, was that a lot of folks didn't stop into my office and I could do some work on my Sunday service for Advent as well as finish off some piddly jobs that I keep putting off like filing and re-organizing my office.  Now that I am home, I am going to lock myself into my sewing room and work on some wonky cross blocks and start cutting out a quilt kit I got last year for Christmas.  So many projects I want to do, but I don't want to make a list in case of overwhelming myself.  That ever happen to you? 
But I have decided for the new year I am going to make a list for UFO's and stash busting.  I am doing a mini stash busting in Nov & Dec, and after 2 weeks have used up 21 meters but I am having a issue with my incoming fabric.  After reading a few other peoples blogs, I know I am not alone in this problem!