Oliver and Korea

We have gone very quickly from hot and smokey to cool and rainy. I prefer the latter, especially as last week when it really was rainy in Vernon I was in Oliver on the shores of Tucelnuit Lake at the VOC bike camp. It only rained a couple of nights while we were there. The days were perfect for biking, especially on an ebike. It's the best toy I've had since can't remember when. I no longer have to fear long hills; if I start feeling breathless, I can put her in 'eco', the lowest level of electric assist, and carry on. You still have to pedal, but my legs are strong. So it's back to being good exercise without the fear and fact of chest pain.

Jay's still here. May's additional papers arrived yesterday. He immediately put them together with his, walked to the post office, mailed them all express post to the South Korean Consulate in Vancouver and now awaits his fate. Meanwhile they talk on Kakaotalk for hours every day, and he and I are having a good time together.



Stopping at the Haynes Ranch, the oldest ranch in the Okanagan, on one of our bike rides.


The first rattler I've seen since I arrived in the Okanagan. If you look closely you can see her two babies curled up near her.


This plant looks innocuous, attractive even, but it's well named. It's hard pointy seed pods we're responsible for four flat tires, not mine fortunately, over five days of biking.


Me in my Korean grandma's gardening hat at the crazy hat barbecue. The even daffier looking person beside me is a friend's husband. He is part of a family that has been involved with Sovereign Lake Ski Club for years. He brought me back to the lodge on a snowmobile when I dislocated my shoulder a few years ago.


Mixing the fruit salad for the pancake breakfast. Each person threw in a cup or so of fresh local fruit.

Clearing up

We've had some clear, bright, early fall days lately. There are still fires burning in BC and a bit of smoke in the air at times, but the worst is over 🤞. Jay and May's work on all the tests, papers, forms and what not that must be amassed and sent hither and yon in order for Jay to return to and work in Korea seems to be getting cleared up too. Last Tuesday they were hit with the revelation that the only available forms on line, the ones Jay had been working from , had not been updated, so much of the information he had presented was incomplete. Information that had been classified as optional is now essential. After the cursing, there followed a few days of visits to medical and government offices in Vernon and Seoul and many conversations on KakaoTalk. It seems now that the bureaucratic ball is again rolling, albeit like the frozen flat tires on old cars in Thunder Bay winters.

My ebike is perfect now. The fenders and skirts are off and all the parts are lubricated and tightened. The new car carrier has also been improved, and for the first time I have a new helmet, not a hand me down from Mara Shepherd or Barbara Chase. Not that I wasn't grateful for those when I was given them. Tomorrow I drive with Marg, a new biking friend, to the one week, VOC bike camp near Oliver.



Last Saturday Mo, John and I biked to watch the parade at the Armstrong fair. The theme this year was Sheep Thrills. This man was the most eccentric entry. He never waved and didn't crack a smile. Stare as I did, I could not figure out how he powered and steered his ???? Is that a sheep he's astride?


There were many creatures in sheep's clothing, but this beaver was the funniest and least sheepish.





First bounty from the yard. Jay and I made plum sauce from the Green Gage and Italian plums and there are still plenty more on the trees.


The Thursday ride with the VOC. My mother would say that I look like Happy Hooligan in my new turquoise helmet and electric yellow jacket.