Winter has Arrived

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Winter has finally taken root here in Reefton. Most mornings there is a thick layer of frost on the ground. This is frequently accompanied by very thick fog. The fog can hang over the town all day, but generally breaks up by mid-afternoon. The fog seems to be created by the surrounding geography - Reefton is located in a basin surrounded by mountains. Up on the lookout, (about 200 metres higher) the skies are often completely clear. The attached picture was taken up in the mountains last week when the town was covered by an almost impenetrable fog.

The mornings are quite cool - often a few degrees below zero. As we have no real heat to speak of in the bedrooms, getting up is not generally an encouraging thought. We do have electric blankets so the bed is generally toasty warm. It is the dash to the shower that I dread the most. We are still working on the wood stove. If we keep doors closed, it will keep the lounge, dining room and kitchen pleasantly warm, assuming that the fire is stoked. I am still having trouble with the over night heating even though I have recently resorted to burning coal. To keep the fire going, I have to get up a least once in the night to stoke more coal. After experimenting with some different coal, we have decided upon Cozy Coal, which seems to burn fairly cleanly. At the moment, I am buying it by the bag, but I am trying to arrange to have a ton delivered as it is much cheaper to buy it in bulk.

This last weekend we helped plant up the gardens around the new St. John's Ambulance Shed. The "Shed" has been 6 years in the planning. Much of the funds have been raised by the community. The current facilities are literally falling down. The official opening of the new facility will be toward the end of the month. Interestingly, this is apparently an ideal time to plant. In fact the lawn bowling green has been completely refurbished this week as well.

Saturday was Adrianne's birthday. She was thrilled to receive several phone calls from Canada. However, the poor girl was made to ice her own birthday cake. Saturday night, we attended an Irish barn dance at the local Workingmen's Club in honour of our friend Gareth's 50th birthday. Joshua was at a friend's house. Avery elected to stay home and watch old episodes of Dawson Creek. Adrianne was therefore our only progeny to brave the public dancing. She was on the floor for just about every dance and equipped herself mightily well.

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Photos

Winter in Reefton
The mountains all around are now covered in picturesque snow.

Comments

[globalamnesia]

found it
so i finally found the email with the blog address. my favorite is the one about me, of course. though i'm not dedicated enough to read more than a few back. josh and eva are enjoying the blogs, but they are making us all homesick!!!