Hot and Cold

At present we are in the midst of a heat wave here in Kelowna.  The weather is very mild at around +4 on average during the day.  In the evenings the thermometer dips just below zero.   In Australia we would call this "freezing" and  rug up in plenty of layers of clothing and huddle under our snuggies.  In Canada however it is something to be celebrated.  It indicates that spring is not too far off and with the coming of this new season, longer days and new growth.  The stores have even begun to stock seeds and gardening tools.  I am seeing and hearing more bird life in our backyard.

Although we are also looking forward to the change of seasons we are desperately holding onto the hope however that winter is still with us and that we will get a little more snow in the coming weeks.  I am sure most Canadians have had enough of snow and ice but we haven't - not yet anyway.
On the weekend we decided to embrace winter once more and so visited Vernon's Winter Carnival.  Vernon is a small city a short 3/4hr drive north east of Kelowna.  Every year they celebrate the cold with the biggest themed winter carnival in BC.  This year the theme was "Prehistoric".  On our to do/see list was watching the hot air balloon glow, viewing the hot air balloon races and carnival parade.  We were also very keen to visit the snow carving competition at Silver Star Mountain.  We managed to tick all of these off our list and see a few more things.

So here's to celebrating the cold by making the most of what if offers and looking forward to the warmth and newness of spring.

A sculptor in the making?????

This sculpture won first prize.  It represents the coming of spring after winter.