One of the first things I said this morning as I got up from the couch (yes, couch!) was “It looks just like an Ontario snow day.”

Just grey skies, Simon said.

I predicted a snowfall. Five minutes later we were blanketed. This was the morning I was gong to drive to Nelson to hike up to the flagpole past Pulpit Rock. There was no way I was going to drive.

Instead, Simon and I walked a few K’s on the Galena Trail – and I’ve pretty much been huddling inside ever since.

I think the next few days will finally be sunny (my personal prediction) so then I’ll be off to walk and get uphill as much as I can. I have pretty much resigned myself to having a sort-of Ontario winter. The mountains are here but as of the moment I can’t get to them. You know that old saying, you don’t really appreciate something until you no longer have it? Well, while I did appreciate Vancouver Island an awful lot, it is only now that I really understand what I had there – year-round hiking and getting out whenever I wanted – and pretty much wherever I wanted.

Perhaps this will change. I’ve contacted another hiking group – KMC is currently fairly inactive – mostly skiing.

But enough of that. Let’s get back to the couch. Simon got three coats of varathane on the upstairs floor with the last going on at about nine – which meant it needed three hours at least before it would be dry enough to walk on. This is important to note because he left the upstairs light on. I don’t sleep well (or at all) with a light on. Meanwhile, he had a blow-up air mattress on the floor in the kitchen near the garbage – I know it was near the bin because he mentioned something about a rather ripe odour. I got the couch beside the wood stove which continued to churn out a lot of heat.

I lay there, staring at the ceiling, the covers on the floor. “How about a game of Scrabble?” I asked

“A late night game?” Simon asked.

“Yes.”

“Right!”

And so we passed the time until we could turn off the upstairs light. We certainly know how to party on a Saturday night.

So now Simon is cutting baseboards for upstairs and doing some measuring for ceiling planks and general stuff like that. Me? I just repaired my iPhoto Library and am feeling pretty chuffed about it.