Countdown

Countdown

With the summer of 2011 drawing to a close, we await with a degree of wonder to ‘what next?’ Last winter was pretty full-on, great for winter sports and snow shoveling. The dogs were in daily doggy-heaven, but it was hard work with so much snow. We spy the mountain tops daily for a sticking white coat.

My new found employment is working out well. Worked a couple of weeks, then promptly laid off temporarily as it has been so dry. No lawns are growing. This has proved a godsend as I’m busy laying the slate floor. The back has been broken, but its countdown time as I now have exactly one week to finish the floor, paint the walls and trim. Natasha is away for the week on a school trip, so home alone with two dogs, and mess everywhere! When I return to work, the dreaded leaf raking.

The training is progressing for the October 9^th Victoria marathon. We have both been pounding the road, 90% of the time turning left up towards Summit Lake. We play the Generation Game (UK readers will remember that) from time to time, to see who can remember the most roadside junk seen en-route. Natasha invariably wins. I have had a couple of non running related injuries, one resulting in a complete week rest from running. Ross, my nephew, completed the Sydney marathon today. His message to me on how he got on was simple – ‘ouch’. Sums it up nicely - my turn next. I’m thinking that 3hrs 30mins might be just out of reach, bar an exceptional on-the-day performance, but I have to beat my Vancouver time of 3.37.

The bees continue to recover from their ‘new house’ ordeal. Their numbers were down when I had to replace all the equipment, but they have appeared to have bred away and fill new comb with nectar. At least they will go into winter with odds on chance of making it through to spring 2012.

The B&B is also drawing to a close, which income wise is a bit of a shocker. It has been a great summer and we hope for winter guests, wanting to play in the snow. Natasha’s new laptop lasted a week and then hard drive failure. A new replacement Dell is being posted, but in the meantime she has made lots of new friends in India…

So, it is indeed ‘countdown time’ for us with so much change in the air. For me, the countdown is Oct 9^th, for Natasha Sept 28^th – ‘A Place to Play’ is published (Pegasus Publishing, UK). Please do look for it on Amazon.co.uk or .com, and order a copy. Indeed, order two and get one gift wrapped. Christmas is on its way.