Remediation, Dumpster Fire and Volcanic Ash....

As many of you know, Bevan Walk, the condominium building in which I live, was undergoing remediation earlier this year. It had been diagnosed as a 'leaky condo', much to the dismay of all of us living and working in the building....This necessitated the decidedly expensive 'treatment' of replacing the exterior of the building, as well as the installation of all new windows. For the best part of eight months, the building was surrounded by scaffolding, which in turn was shrouded with blue and green netting.

As the new windows were installed, they had to be tested, to ensure that they would remain watertight when battered by driving rain...so, welcome to my bedroom, where such testing was taking place!

A few weeks later, water was once again being sprayed around, this time by the Sidney Fire Department, on a fire, started accidentally, in the big yellow dumpster containing waste building materials. Four fire trucks responded, but thankfully the fire was well-contained, and extinguished in short order, much to our relief!

After all that excitement, I was really looking forward to being able to attend the wedding of David, my one-and-only nephew, and his beloved, Esther, in England, at the end of April. However, you will recall, that was when planes were grounded for several days because of the volcanic dust in the air..... In spite of my non-appearance, David and Esther had a most memorable day, and I really enjoyed spending some time with them when I was visiting in August.

Winter Olympics - Vancouver 2010

February 2010 was when Canada welcomed the world to Whistler ski area and Vancouver for the Winter Olympic Games. It seemed that everyone, especially those of us out here on the west coast, was caught up in Olympic fever, proudly sporting our 'famous' red mittens (if we were able to find any to buy; they were definitely a very 'hot' item) toques and scarves, plus anything else that would identify us a proud supporter of Team Canada! A few friends had tickets for some of the events, but I didn't brave the Vancouver crowds until they had thinned out considerably - when the games were over! - although I did stick close to the TV when the games were in full swing.... The day Merlie and I went on our sight-seeing tour of the Olympic sites - cauldron, torch etc., was sunny, but cool...