Author: Contessa Jewall

The plan was for our high school class to get together in June of 2021 to celebrate the fact that we had graduated 50 years prior. As we all know the pandemic shut that year down and most of the next year as well.

We graduated in 1971 and then I did my nursing course and over the years worked at the Edmonton General Hospital and the University of Alberta Hospital. I slowly left working in a hospital and instead did nursing related jobs. One day I heard that Air Canada was looking for new employees and that the requirement was that you had to speak French. I went for an interview and the rest is history, I was accepted, worked for a bit in Edmonton and then transferred to Vancouver. I managed to get quite a bit of traveling in before I married Colin in 1987. Needless to say I mostly lost contact with my high school friends except for a very very few.

You might want to scroll to the end of this post and click on the You Tube video sung by Andrea Bocelli and Edith Piaf ( produced in 2013 ). It will put you in the right frame of mind, to read the rest of this post.

We all attended Grades 7 – 12 at Académie de l’Assomption. It was an all girls school run by nuns. For the first so many years we all had to wear a uniform. Of course the majority of the classes were in French. We were a small class and some have passed over the years, several are living in abroad, so it was a small group of twelve for this reunion, which is almost 50% of our graduating class. Plans for future get togethers are already in the works.

I forgot to mention that I was up at 3:30AM this past Wednesday the 13th. The airline had changed my 10AM 🙂  flight to 6AM 😡  My good friend Carol picked me up and drove me to my chiropractic appointment and patiently waited in the car for me. We then drove to her home where I was spending the night. I unpacked a wee bit and changed for the festivities.Then we were off to the reunion, back to her home where we enjoyed a bit more vino and chatted until midnight. I believe that it was shortly after midnight that I went to bed. Such a very long day. I truly was tired. Next thing I knew Carol was waking me up. I had slept until 10AM and we had to leave in just under an hour. Yet another chiropractic appointment, I had spent the money to fly to Edmonton so I might as well make the most of it. Carol then very kindly drove me back to the airport. She went above and beyond to make my few hours in Edmonton special 😀 By the time I got back home Thursday and unpacked it was dark ( why does this happen so suddenly in the fall ). I was beyond tired and Colin had to get to bed as he was leaving at 5AM Friday morning to drive to and to work in Vancouver. More on that situation Saturday, my next post.

I wonder if I need to hire someone to keep me going in the correct direction? So much to share but always running out of time. Overall I think that is a good thing.

A few days ago there was a very huge rain storm over the Isla and Mazatlan. Much flooding, many palapas blown down and trees uprooted not to mention that the roads have become lakes that need to be navigated ever so carefully.

So many people affected in that horrific earthquake in Morocco, well over 3,000 have died. Many of the wonderful historic sites in Marrakech have been damaged. The Jemaa el – Fnaa Square, the main square off the Medina has had severe damage to some historic sites, Also parts of the ancient walls  surrounding the Medina and homes have been damaged. Our first thought was to reach out to our dear friend Fawzy whose Riad we stayed in while visiting Marrakech in June 2019. Click here for part of that story. More photos of the famous square.

Thank you Fawzy for getting back to us. Wishing you and your country a smooth and quick recovery from this world event. We will always be here for you. You only have to reach out to us.

We have no idea but it’s far enough away not to be a threat.

As usual we have some activities and events to share with you all.

The ash from the fires has been totally cleaned up at least here at home. Colin even washed the windows inside and out and got rid of as many spiders and their nests as possible. Sadly the fire activity increased this weekend. Mostly heavy smoke at the moment. Of the three main fires only the McDougal Creek fire on the Westside remains out of control. It is approximately 14,000 hectares / 35,500 acres and still growing.  They say that it will burn for at least another two months, likely into the winter. Last I heard 405 homes are still under education order.

While up on the roof cleaning out some debris from one of our rain chains he noticed some areas in our metal flashing between the house roof and the add a room roof that needs to be resealed. Prevention is the best way to stay ahead of unnecessary repairs.

I just want to emphasize that we are not going to be selling our home ( unless something hits us on the head this winter in Mexico ). Even so we will only rent in Mexico. Many of you have commented on us receiving our OAP ( old age pension ) and CPP ( pension that we paid into while working ) if we move away. We are legally able to get it wherever we are living in the world, even Tahiti. I have been there and that is not a choice, Mexico is mucho mejor 😎 Our medical insurance is good for 7 months at a time per year. Or we can take 24 months once every five years. Or take 7 months from one year followed back to back with 7 months for the next year for a total of 14 month. However we still need to take out  medical travel insurance. I truly can’t see us spending our summers in Mexico. So so many options. We could store our RV in the USA and drive back to Canada for few months.

A few days after Colin did all the power washing he went into our outside freezer and discovered that the contents were 95% ruined. So glad that I was not home. It was a huge job for him to clean up. I had already purchased some things for the winter which we can’t get in Mexico. C’est la vie 😉

Meanwhile the girls have been muy ocupada these past 8 or so days. Somehow they have even able to catch a snake on two separate days. As you can guess Ciela Bella captured the first one, clenched it in her teeth and swung it from side to side until it expired. The snake bled red onto the patio 😥  A few days later Carlie caught a snake and did exactly what her twin had done. I am so glad to have been away ( shopping and appointments ) and missed seeing these events.

Ciela went on a hunger strike, she had been eating less and less day by day. Carlie’s body is not happy and she has had trouble keeping her food down and was not getting any nutrition. And with the baby deciding to stop eating Colin decided it was time for a change. So he did a great deal of research. He brought back a small bag made by the Honest Kitchen, Grain Free Chicken Recipe Tasty Whole Food Clusters.

Of course more expensive than their regular kibble but they both loved it. Pet owners know that new foods need to be introduced slowly at least over a week. The girls simply gobbled it up. They only ate the new kibble and left the old in their dishes. The girls only wanted the new stuff. It has been almost a week now and they are content and we are happy. So glad this all came together before we purchased 6 months worth of the wrong dog food.

Overall the fires are less hazardous to the city of Kelowna. However they continue to burn out of control. They are considered held due to backburns and various ignitions set to counter the direction of the fire. However whenever a firetruck comes down the highway at night I bolt straight up and get out of bed to check around us.

We are eating as much as we can from our garden. The rats have arrived, perhaps they have been displaced because of the fires. Our garden neighbours ended up pulling out their entire garden because they did not like that the rats were around.

Last Friday we finally made it to our hair appointment, a week late due to evacuation. It appears that the silk Blissy pillow cover did not help. My hair is officially breaking all over. No haircut for me other than a few edges. No colour for me. My hair has no get up and go, no life, no lustre, it looks awful. I am increasing my biotin and trying a different shampoo, etc. However there is a good possibility that it will be cut short before we leave for Mexico. Then I will grow it out over the winter and hopefully I will be back to normal.

Unlike the US there are few telecom companies here in Canda and now one less. Rogers has bought out Shaw which is with whom I have my cell plan. I had no choice but to switch. I had the choice to keep what I had for two years or to make a change. I used Shaw last winter to use as a three country ( Canada, US and Mexico) from my phone using the same SIM card. It really only worked half the time and was expensive. So I sort of made my own plan. I now have unlimited talk and texting within Canada and 1GB of data for only $10.00 CAD per month ( I can purchase another GB at any time for $10.00 ). Plus I now have unlimited calling to and from the US as well as roaming in the US at no extra charge. What a deal @ $10.00 per month. I finally made the switch earlier tonight. It took me, Colin and three different people at Rogers to make the transfer but I am good to go now. Thank goodness for Colin’s eagle eyes, he spotted the tiny lost new SIM card which had fallen onto the computer keys. This was all supposed to happen before we evacuated and then Fed Ex was holding back on deliveries because of the fires. Good to have that sorted out. I decided to get Colin’s cell service with Telus checked. Today I got his monthly price dropped from $40.00 to $35.00 and I increased his data from 1GB to 3GB. It was only supposed to be 2GB but the young lady said she would make it 3GB at no charge 😀 It was just last year at this time, that between us we were paying over $175.00 per month. Lot of time and energy on the phone but well worth the savings. It appears that we are good at our new rates for at least two years.

Then there was yesterday, Monday. I had had my teeth cleaned about 10 days ago but had to come back for the dentist part of the cleaning yesterday. As I was pulling into the parking lot I noticed that the fuel tank on my car showed a big red E as well as a lit up image of a gas tank 🙁  So I called Colin and asked if he could come and drop off his car and come and get mine filled. He had to go out and pick something up anyway. So I reached into my purse to pull out my wallet to leave the fuel credit card out for Colin. My wallet was not there 😥  Oh and my cell was on red with about 8% charge left 😳 So while I held on the cell, Colin ran all over the place looking for my wallet at home. It must have dropped out of my purse in his car last Friday, he found it under my seat. I also recall mentioning to him that day that I was about out of gas 🙄  What a crazy Monday morning. Long story short, Colin picked up my car, delivered my wallet and his car keys to me at the dentist. And my phone was being charged while I saw the dentist. All is well and my car is on full 😉

Yes we are home safe and sound. It took three hours to get back home yesterday afternoon. I had started this post yesterday but by the time the RV was emptied and things put away I was totally worn out. Today I did the RV laundry and made sure that everything that belonged here in the house was in the house. I always forget the hot mats 🙄 Tomorrow the RV bathroom and kitchen gets cleaned along with a vacuum. No sense dusting as somehow the dust gets in while it is in storage.

Our home as well as all of Holiday Park is wonderfully fine. Lots of ash and debris to be cleaned up but that is to be expected. Some who stayed wished that they had left. Others were alright with staying. I am still glad that we left, in our minds it was the right thing to do. Friday the day we left was the worst of all we have been told. The firefighters worked so hard in the most difficult situations, 16 hour shifts breathing that toxic smoke. Monday the toxicity numbers were off the chart. Yesterday they were down 50% and today even better. The air quality has been at an 11+ for several days.

I have to say that when we opened up the house yesterday we never expected to smell so much toxic smoke. I coughed and coughed. However with all of our windows open it did not take long to clear out. There was quite a bit of ash all over which Colin cleaned up with his “leaf sucker upper “, no idea what it is called. First we fed the girls a late lunch and then we unloaded. Of course I had packed more than we need as we did not know if we would ever be back. Better to have more than less. And for those who want to know, I did not do my kinesiology exercises while away, nor last night. I should resume today but I made the decision to do this post instead. Not your fault but mine!!

For certain mañana. Thank you all for reaching out to us, it really did help ground us. The girls loved their walks and Colin enjoyed his guitar and me my vino and a book. We really went back and forth about returning yesterday ( Tuesday ) but finally made the decision to return. Once the RV was unloaded, the winds picked up and rain began to fall. Then it stopped, then it rained heavy, then another pause. It was off and of and then we had rain like we have never had rain. Straight down and heavy. That rain cleared the smoke This morning we woke up to blue in the sky and very little smoke and only a “1 low risk air quality” ( thank you Sue K for the air quality link).

However as today progressed the clouds came in as did the winds. No rain but we did start smelling smoke again. We are down to a “3 low risk” this evening. There are three separate major fires burning and they are still out of control but thanks to many boots on the ground (500 firefighters from all over ) they are mostly keeping the fires away from homes and structures.

I read yesterday that a singe firetruck from Ellison saved an entire condo complex here in Lake Country, a day or two ago, just the few firefighters and their truck. These men and woman are so very brave and never give up. There have been photos thru homeowners cameras of a single fire-fighter saving a home and another three others stopping a fire from going up a berm and saved at least 3 homes – true heroes. So many more stories like this. And then there are the restaurants and individuals and community groups coming together to feed all the firefighters plus those evacuated from their home. Many of the fire-fighters are also evacuated from their homes. One of the fire chiefs today ‘joked’ that he was running out of underwear and his family was also evacuated. These fellows have not been home since this all started 😥

Our provincial government had put a travel ban in effect for two days in all of BC. Hotels, airbnb’s and campgrounds were full. There was nowhere to house the evacuees and of course that was important. As of today the ban only remains for West Kelowna, allowing for some tourism as well as accommodation for the evacuees. Many are offering rental properties at a discount, some places are offering free accommodation for a few days. Our BC community is first rate, so many have come to together to feed those sleeping on cots in an arena, some just sitting in a community centre, the food bank is making 1000’s of boxes everyday, many are opening up an extra bedroom in their home. It is going to take us a very long time to get back to some sort of normal. Did you even think about the grapes on the vine, might be a very smokey harvest?

Sadly today is that day that those who lost their homes will find out their fate. 180 homes destroyed 😥  😥

I honestly don’t have time to reply to your various comments but I will, especially if you had a question. I need a few days to get back to normal re the business and preparing for Mexico. But thank you very much for your comments, it has bolstered us.

Wish I knew 😯  So much has been happened the past two days. In our downtime both the inside and basement of the RV have been prepped for our next trip to Mexico. I still can’t believe that we leave seven weeks today 😎

I hope that you are okay with these bits and pieces, not necessarily in order.

~I had purchased a large fillet of fresh wild sockeye salmon two days before we left.  Once we landed in this lovely spot and more or less set up this past Friday Colin left to pick up a few supplies for us to BBQ the salmon. No way did we want to waste that lovely salmon. The fish was perfect as was as the potatoes Colin picked up. Accompanied with  zucchini from our garden and a ceaser salad we ate very well. Last night we had a salmon burger.  Tonight we have a choice of Costco quiche, veggie burger, two types of hot pasta or tuna pies. Look like the chef has chosen tuna pies. The unsettling thing about the Friday meal was that Colin discovered that the local gas station was out of fuel. Oh wel, yet another thing to deal with on another day.

~tonight is our fourth night here. A very lovely RV park.  The girls are so very good. They seem to be alright sitting outside on a leash tied to a tree. Today Colin took them for a long walk around the park off leash. Then down to the rocky beach of the Kettle River. They listened to all his voice commands. I could see that they have changed over the past months but they certainly proved it to us.

~Colin had brought several bowls of tomatoes/zucchini and patty pan squash from our garden which he shared with everyone here. Back home someone graciously watered our veggie garden the other day ( I can’t remember ) and another friend watered the tomato  plants in our yard. Folks are being very helpful to us as well as all the evacuees. Hot food is being delivered free of charge all over the city and of course the fire stations. There have been over 50 homes destroyed but they are still counting. Several  fire-fighters have lost their homes yet keep fighting these three fires that remain out of control. I feel for them and of course their wives and children left with little emotional support. Most are working 16 hours shifts in the very very thick choking  smoke.

~I am spending hours online trying to figure it all out.

~as of this morning the fires had calmed however they all remain out of control. The University and area were taken off their evacuation order but remain on alert. However the smoke is being held down by its very thickness and not dissipating. Added to that are the associated smells of toxic fumes and burnt homes ( tires also plus ?? ) and vegetation. Air quality on a scale of 1 – 10 is literally off the charts at an 11+. Reports from those who have returned to Holiday Park are about the smell and thick toxic smoke.

~we have been debating on returning tomorrow or waiting until Wednesday. Winds are to pick up tonight, there is a 30% chance of showers  🙂 as well as thunder showers. Tomorrow ( Tuesday ) is a 70% chance of showers. We don’t mind getting wet as we unload.  Much better that breathing toxic air.  Many are worried about their A/C units being full of ash. What to do?

~today Holiday Park sent out a totally revised form on evacuation procedures as approved by the Kelowna Fire Department!  It varies quite a bit from what was in effect when we left. All to the good but why so late in the game 😯 Also the parks webcams are down, two were working up to yesterday but now we have no visual of the amount of smoke in the air 😡

~homes have been destroyed but we don’t’ have the total number nor any details. Those whose homes have been destroyed need to be contacted first.

~a day or two before we left the  temperature was 102F. The past two mornings we awoke up to 53F and 51F. Those temps have helped cool the fires but they are all still burning out of control as I type this.

~ of course we are very aware of Hurricane Hilary. For once there was no damage to the Isla. However Hilary hit the USA very hard 😥  The hope is that  she will drop some water on our fires tomorrow as she passes through

~thank you all so much for your comments on this blog via comments, via text, message or email and phone calls. They have all helped calm us and we are so very very thankful for you being there for us. It means so very much to realize how many of you care – and especially my long lost friends and our special blog reader from Australia. Tears did flow as your comments were read, we did not feel quite so alone

~we are ever so thankful that our RV park has been saved. However those who have returned to our park are still ready to leave at a moments notice. There are still winds and thunder storms in the forecast. We will make our decision to return or not in the morning.

~sadly the the fire fighting air support has been unable to fly the past few days. Worry some.

~however friends from the Isla who live in our park reported rain about 45 minutes ago 😎 Please let it rain. Fabulous news at 7:54PM Monday.

If you are ever down this way ( just  a mile or two from the US border ) The Kettle River RV Park is a wonderful place to relax in. Just a few miles east of Rock Creek.

 

 

 

 

 

I am fairly certain that most of you have read about the fires in British Columbia and now particularly in Kelowna, BC. You only have to read or listen to the news. Thursday night was hell on earth for firefighters.  At least four ( have heard up to six but can’t confirm that ) started from the Friday night fires via hot embers flying across Lake Okanagan – yes huge big lake. One of our neighbours  knocked on our door early yesterday ( Friday ) morning to tell us that they and their families were leaving Holiday Park. One of the fathers friends had just had a hot ember land on their roof and their home was on fire. The house is only 4KM away from our place. That got us thinking.

 

So we began to slowly pack and make piles of things to go to the RV. I was constantly checking the computer for updates. We could see the highway from our home and it was bumper to bumper heading east ( had been all of Thursday night as the evacuation orders were put in force ) and ever so slow. Where could we go? Spoke with another neighbour who suggested heading west out of the park to Highway 33 heading south and then turn east on Highway 3 ( Crowsnest Hwy) where the communities of Rock Creek, Kettle River and Midway were. Turns out that this area had become a haven for fire evacuees. Was a 75 mile drive for us but due to the extremely curvy roads it took about 2.5 hours.

Before I continue I want to let you know how difficult this is to write. How difficult to leave our home and all our beautiful possessions, etc. I had to work very hard at not breaking down. Such difficult decisions to make as to what to take and what not to take. Everything I left behind, I knew that I may never see it again ( and still might not ). As it was we forgot a few things like dog ramps and dog fencing and certain food items. Lots of pasta but no sauce. The fresh wild sockeye salmon that I just had purchased but no marinade ingredients, nor rice nor potatoes. We do have tons of tomatoes and way too many zucchini. We won’t starve. I packed all the chocolate and as much white wine as I could. What I am trying to tell you is that this post is likely going to be all over the place. Much to difficult to keep things in chronological order but I will do my best. Many of you have been asking the Que Pasa of what is happening do I finally force myself sit down to write this post. Thank you to all of you who called, emailed, texted, etc. Special thanks to a few of you who helped by looking up locations, maps and finding us a palace to stay in an RV Park. Special thanks to Al of the Bayfield Bunch back in Ontario who reached out to someone, Barb M. in the Vernon area ( I am so sorry that I have not got back to you yet – but I will ) to help us find a place to stay. Friends all over BC, Alberta ( and other parts of Canada ) and the USA and many from Mexico. Your messages truly helped get us through the difficult hours.

I feel for a friend who has been evacuated two days in a row. Even worse, it was twenty years ago yesterday to the day that she lost her home to the 2003 fire and was now in the same shopping mall (as 20 years ago) camping out. Sorry I have not reached out but please know that we care. Special thanks to a dear friend who is sending me any mention of our home area in the news. She urged us to leave ( her fiancé is a firefighter captain ). She is alone with her son and worried not just for herself, but for him. So many of you reaching out.

I already getting ahead of myself. Hope you can figure it all out..

We left Holiday Park at 2:45 PM Friday the18th afternoon. We loaded the golf cart which Colin took and unload into the RV and then came back to the house. We loaded the Jeep  which I thought I was going to drive behind the RV but Colin wanted us to be together so we hooked it up. However Colin could not find the tow bars and had to go back to the house. By the way we left the power on but shut off the water and the propane. I also tied a red ribbon to the door and taped a note to the door window saying that we had left and about the propane and water. I didn’t want to ruin two freezers full of things that I had already begun to purchase for trip to Mexico. Hard to believe that we are leaving in seven weeks. We had also loaded my car and we put all of that into the RV and unloaded stuff from the RV that we did not need into the Lexus which now sits in the RV storage site. It was cold here this morning so I wish we had kept our Mr. Buddy,  We went from sweltering temps (to us), to a cool 69F.

See I how I get distracted. Finally on the road. Good thing we were going west. Traffic not so bad. Lots of vehicles lined up around the block trying to get fuel. Drove south on HWY 33, and then east on Hwy 3. My good friend Joanne found us the last RV site here at the Kettle River RV Park on Hwy 3. We only got this RV site because someone had to cancel. They cancelled because they lost their home to fire Thursday night, so very very sad. It truly is a lovely place but I really wish that the original folks had been able to come. Much smokier today that when we arrived 24 hours ago. Colin spent well and I tossed and turned. However it was black dark and as quiet as possible and so cool that it was lovely.

Apparently seven water bombers worked for hours today on “our” fire ( the one closet to us ). That was wonderful news. But care homes are being evacuated. So many people/organizitons and restaurants are offering to help and are donating. The community is striving to work together. But what is happening in this world of ours? Hawaiian fires, next flooding in California and Arizona and BC on fire and the entire city of Whitehorse, NWT being evacuate, the entire city 😮

So many heart warming posts on the media.

35,000 homes evacuated. Meanwhile new fires continue in Oliver, Penticton and the Shuswap and I don’t where else. many RCMP ( police ) have been flown from other parts of BC to assist. Various communities have sent not only firefighters but also fire trucks to assist.

Thanks for reading thus far, if you have. It took over four hours to get this post written. I really hope in my heart of hearts that I wake up to a better day.

 

 

 

 

 

Because of the heat we are enduring and a cold front coming in tomorrow,  we are in a perfect storm for fires, so say the officials.

“The BC Wildfire Service’s top official did not mince words during Thursday’s press conference: “This weather event has the potential to be most challenging 24 to 48 hours of the summer from a fire perspective. We are expecting significant growth and we are expecting our resources to be challenged from north to south.”

The forecast in B.C. is calling for a potential “perfect storm” for wildfires over the next couple of days, with expected dry lightning and strong, erratic winds, on top of the already bone-dry conditions across much of the province.

BC Wildfire Service director Cliff Chapman said this weather event is unique in that it will have a provincewide impact. But he noted the southern half of the province, including the Cariboo, Kamloops and Southeast fire centres, will be most susceptible.

“The conditions out in the forests are very primed to see significant fire growth and to see new fires challenge our suppression efforts,” Chapman said.

After a high pressure system has sat over much of the province for the past several days, driving temperatures up to the high 30s, a cold front will make its way down through B.C. from the northwest throughout the day Thursday. While the cold front will cool down temperatures to the high 20s, the transition is expected to bring strong, erratic winds, gusting to speeds of 70 km/h, along with dry lightning.”

I can’t even keep track where all the fires are right now. Enough to say that three of them began issuing evacuation orders a few hours ago, over 2500 people have been evacuated and another 4,500 homes are on evacuation alert. There is one very active fire south of us, two to the east and a huge one directly behind us.  Some of the other fires have evacuation orders and alerts. We are in no danger whatsoever but that can change in an instant. The fire behind us is sending out much ash including blackened leaves, pinecone needles and small pieces of wood. Over the past few hours the winds have increased as promised. Going outside feels like walking into a hot oven. Hopefully no hot embers will find their way here.

Today we are seeing things we never have before, different colours on the lake as well as different shaped clouds and formations. The sun has reflected into the lake the past few hours over and over with some sparkly but various colours. They sky has changed over and over. We have seen many fires in our 20 years here, but this is a big one and perhaps because of the ‘perfect storm’ we are seeing new things. Already we have seen the winds shift. I just went out to take a photo of a strange cloud formation and I could actually smell trees burning 😥

What we are seeing is upsetting but they say that tomorrow will be worse as the winds will shift and move towards West Kelowna. This is week is the 20th anniversary of the huge 2003 fire, many homes were lost. The day we took possession of our second site  here in the park ( we were in the RV ) we were aware of fires to the west and south of us. By dusk they were not too far from us, in the south. Many were gettting their RV’s ready to evacuate. A fireman friend had his 5th wheel permanently skirted. He took it all off and hooked up. That was our signal to prepare to leave. We were never officially evacuated but many of us left the park. I drove the car behind our RV, we did not want take the time to hook up but we had walkie talkies. We ended up at the Walmart in Vernon. We know for certain that a miracle took place. There was little to no rain in the forecast but just where the fire had begun to get close to our area there was a cloud burst and the fire slowed right down 😮

Today the fire was in the hills above Bear Creek Provincial Park. The park was on evacuation alert. Our friends S & B are park managers there. This was not their first brush with fires in the area. The RVers all left and they brought up the rear and closed the gate so to speak. They are rather unsettled tonight, as this week is the 20th anniversary almost to the day that they lost their home to the 2003 fire. And now today they had to evacuate with their only home which happens to be on wheels. S also writes a blog and you can follow her thoughts by clicking here.

In other news Hurricane Hilary will be passing by Mazatlan on its way south to Cabo San Lucas and sending some weather towards the Isla. I am not going to worry about that until later tomorrow. Just learned that the rains have already begun.

We called some friends in Guadalajara this evening who were also living in smoke. Apparently some developers in the city were setting fire to trees and vegetation so that they had clear ground to build on. Against the law, but it is Mexico 😯

I had another update but I will deal with that in the next post. I had no idea that this post would grow as it has.

I have more photos but it is almost 10PM and we need to have dinner. Hopefully the rest of the story tomorrow.

I have not proofed this, just wrote it, so please excuse spelling and gramma errors.

 

 

 

Breaking heat records today. Yesterday it was scorching but today it is searing hot, we got up to 102F. Finally down to 86F at 9PM tonight as I type this. The A/C is still on. I had to drive into town for my kinesiology appointment early this afternoon and then I made seven stops on the way home 😯  About six too many. Some short and some much longer. It was wonderful to walk into the cool air at home. The A/C is working just fine in my car but with all the stops it barely cools down. Sadly the heat is generating many new fires 😥

We leave in seven weeks and six days for Mexico. I have to start doing all the to do’s. I don’t even have a list, I am doing things as they pop into my mind.  Colin spent the last two ( very very long and hot ) days doing photography ( interiors and exteriors of a multi million dollar home ) for one of our clients. He will be home now for at least a week sitting at his desk doing editing and photoshop. The girls missed him so much, it was sad to see. Each time a car drove past they jumped up to see if it was him. Last night when he finally got home after 10PM ( he left at 8:30AM and never had a break all day ) the girls very firmly expressed to us that they would be sleeping in our bed. In fact they were asleep on top of the bed covers with 15 minutes of Colin getting home. They could finally relax and rest. The last few days had been difficult for them.

The lovely couple who are extremely interested in purchasing our home came by this past Saturday. They were measuring a variety of areas inside and outside of our home. Once done we sat down to have ‘the’ discussion. The numbers seemed to work, however there was no way that I could sell, pack up my home and find a place to store everything in just eight weeks. I kindly explained that we were interested but the time was not right for us. I refuse to be homeless. So we agreed to speak again May/June. Such a relief, decision made. We will look at the Isla and other areas in Mexico through different eyes this coming winter. Depending on what we find and where, then we will rethink the house sale or just keep it 😎