Dear diary what a day it's been: Months later.... November, New home.

Here's a blog update to tell you about our new home.
We aren't moving there just yet. There is much to do. But a few photos will give you the idea.
And where is it? Do Google it. Full address will be supplied in a separate email.

Salt Spring Island, (SSI) British Columbia, Canada).

You can see Vancouver Island to the west and teh southern half of Salt Spring Island at left of centre.
Some details for Hamish - if you are still a geographer at heart...
Our road is marked by the red dot, the numerous islands offshore and between SSI and Vancouver mainland BC are shown to the east... the USA border is bottom SE and off view east. Vancouver is NE though not on the map and is a 25 minute flight from Ganges the capital of SSI. The quickest ferry crossings to Vancouver Island take 15- 25 minutes directly to Victoria or Crofton.

Here's how you get there quickly from Vancouver downtown, though a slower crossing is possible by ferry (for all you fish out there).

That's Dan there, and his hair isn't that long any longer.

We recommend this airline

So here is the front/back of the house, we are still discussing terminology...

And a drive to the house can be seen here.... (click the link "here" to see the video in your browser)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzG_n5sqcXQ
and our house is in view at 2:21though you don't see much of it, so I am carrying on with my photo journal for you.
And as he drives back on this second video here....
at 3:39 you see the lady with the dog, that's a neighbour and her barking dog... who lives opposite our house.

So you drive in here

And come up to the front/back door

Inside we have... a view straight through the house...

Now a tour of the house....Front door leading to kitchen

Adjoining living room

Narrow mezzanine with space for books and maybe a put-you-up bed in the future...

View from mezzanine down to the living room and kitchen... (fish eye)

Dangerous stairway made safer already with motion sensor lighting! and soon to be rebuilt.

And master bedroom on mezzanine... don't you just love that non-scrabbleable (unless you have a blank) word?

The previous owners have left us the old organ, which is too big to move without pulley system! Hmmm..

Downstairs bedroom, currently only one bed

But a nice space for Al and Dan has his sofa bed in the sunroom.

And bathroom, old but serviceable and nothing we can't live with.

Adjoining sunroom, now with the sofa bed, nice and warm in there for Dan.

Outside there is a lovely front=back garden (we are still discussing terminology).

This one is for you Margaret, Winter Cyclamen, thousands of them.

Established veg. patches, note the asparagus bed, Margaret.

And orchard with some 6 fruit trees, apples, plumbs, hazelnuts, pears... What more could we want?

Front/back garden looking towards the sunroom .

and below looking towards our chickeny neighbours who have the house with the green roof and...

they have plenty of these.

Are you still thinking why oh why did they buy this place?.... Here's why...

From the back=front of the house there is a cleared pathway (remember John's love of his fish eye lens, it isn't as vast as it looks here.

Leading to the stairs.

75 of them currently being rebuilt by Patrick because...

They aren't all too good.

But eventually you will reach the pebbly shore of the Fulford Inlet - Looking up towards Fulford village.

And the other way looking out towards the Pacific.

We have a 10' boat left to us by Rob, the previous owner's son. He and his brother spent hours and hours fishing and pottering around the islands in this as children and adults. It can take a sail or just oars.

We will use it to get us to the island you can see from the back=front deck (I know this implies we own an island - well we don't, but near as damn it!) Public access allowed, with nature reserves and walking trails.... Russell Island (at centre) is the closest but there are plenty to choose from...

Check out the map at the top of this blog entry.

You can see the Victoria-Vancouver Ferry going by.... It is like living in one of those pens with a London bus that slides silently from one end to the other as often as you wish.