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The November Probus Wine Tasting Dinner Gathering was hosted by Carol Anne and Terry. A family-style dinner featuring our favourite comfort dishes was accompanied by 3 red and 3 white well chosen wines. Our group of 15 and Tesla the dog had a most enjoyable and relaxing evening. As the photos show, sometimes there's nothing more suitable to say than... WOW! What a perfect day. Eight snowshoers broke trail through fresh snow under sunny skies. No wind, just below zero, great snow conditions, snow clad trees, and multitudes of snow smurfs. Brian led, accompanied by Susanne, Ken, Michele, Marrilynn, Lynn, Lindsay and David. We went out to Battleship Lake, then around the North end to the East ridge and up Snowball Alley to the lookout where we had lunch. Returned the same way. Paradise ponds were well-frozen so we went straight across. Battleship Lake is frozen. No one had ventured out on it yet and neither did we. The snow was light but well settled, so trail breaking along the ridge was not too difficult. It was 8.5 km in 4 hours with lots of photo stops and a coffee at the Curling Rink on our return. On Tuesday a group of 6 never-say-never hikers headed out from the Baden Road parking lot to explore the trails. We started during a brief break in the rain but 5 minutes in a few of us needed to add further rain gear. It rained, with a bit of added sleet just for fun, for most of the 3 1/2 hours we walked. A few big puddles, high bank river views, shining old man's beard on the trees and lots of wet leaves on the trail. Plank walking was the only thing to stop this group, even after demonstrating how easy it was 😂, so we doubled back to join the main trail. A great group and a pretty good test for our rain gear. A hiker who couldn’t make this trip joined us at Royston Coffee. Thank you Brian for a few course corrections and the map. Photos from Michele and Marrilynn The Probus hiking group met at the Wildwood Interpretive Forest for an easy hike. It was quite chilly at the start, but the sun was soon breaking through the clouds and by the end it was sunny and warm. We wandered our way through the trails, eventually meeting the One Stop Trail where we found a nice bench to sit on and eat lunch. On the way back we went down Burns Road to see the lovely farm and then down the trail under the power lines so as to stay in the sun. Hiking Group leader Anne Flanagan It was another fabulous evening chatting about and tasting white wines and decanted reds from the new and old worlds, hosted by Judi and Dale. Dinner featured scrumptious beef rouladen and the dozen guests supplied yummy appies, vegetables and desserts to accompany the meal. What a boisterous, laughter-filled evening it was at our second annual Comox-Strathcona Probus Club Halloween Party. Participants enjoyed an excellent appetizer dinner, a rousing contest with 50's, 60's and 70's music trivia, and enough dancing to tire us all out. Celebrating the large number of creative costumes were prizes for Scariest (Ralph Larson), Best (Doug Williams), and Funniest (Brian Bennett) - with many additional dazzling costumes close runners-up. There are two slideshows of photos below featuring our costume winners, and the evening antics and activities. Thanks to Events Coordinator Maryann Amiss and her crew of helpers who made this event another big success. The Hiking Group took advantage of a sunny weather window, resplendent with the warm colours of autumn, to complete the 14 kilometer hike to Kwai Lake in Strathcona Park. Ten participants enjoyed an "Everything French" Hands On Cooking afternoon with all the challenge, spectacle, and flavourful variety that French cuisine presents. Dishes made this session were croquettes, coq au vin, quenelles, fougasse bread, a spreadable chicken liver pâté called a parfait, and macarons that could have come right out of a Parisian patisserie. The Gardening Group met at GardenWorks this week for a tour and demonstration of how to put together a fall planter. It was a very enjoyable demo, followed by coffee at the Courtenay Country Market. Thanks so much to Susan Ward for organizing this group's many seasonal outings. |