Quiet at the Lake now we are into a fall pattern. - Sept 8th to Sept 15th

My gardens still have a lot of colour left in them. We've received insignificant rain since July, so everything is doing well with my irrigation.

Unfortunately it's time to start emptying the back planters. I started on the sundeck as I'll need to pressure wash all the dirt stains for the winter. Then I'll work on the front ones. Everything's gone so leggy in the pots. The ones on the deck come through the house, so I'd rather do it when it's dry out instead of tracking through the house. :)

Wednesday I took the car into Toyota for a service at 1 pm. Didn't get back home until 4:30 so missed most of the nice day, but still managed to sit outside on our deck for a couple of hours. We had a high of 25C today. Ray even managed a dip in the lake after mowing the lawn and applying moss killer. He's trying to get ahead of the moss for next spring. Good luck I say lol.

Thurday we were busy with gardening items. Penny came to help empty out the planters on the deck, so we can move them downstairs under the sundeck for the winter. We also used the dirt to top up the gardens under the hedge. Great to do this on a nice warm and dry day as (once again) my little dumper has to be rolled through the house out the front door.

Ray and I moved the planters (mostly Ray lol) and then I pressure washed the deck Saturday. We also emptied a bunch of the vertical garden planters into the utility trailer, keeping only one set with herbs that I will keep until they die in December with the cold.

Sunday the predicted showers came, unfortunately not much accumulation, the lake is still really low. A watching TV day and some cooking. Steak, prawns, fresh corn sautee and spaghetti carbonara.

My plate ... Ray's was 3 x the size lol.

The rest of the days to Tuesday were pretty quiet, a little of this and a little of that, then sitting outside either on the lawn, sundeck or driveway patio, enjoying the last of summer. .

Ray cleared off the dock, putting all the chairs and swim floaties away for the winter. We left 2 chairs in the deck box for days that we can still sit down there this fall. It's been really windy on the lake this summer ..... we shall fix that next year!

Two hydrofoils went by, they sure have large rooster tails! I think the guy in the kayak is going to feel the spray!

Ray even managed to jump in the water a couple of times to cool off as well as an afternoon snooze lol

We realized we'd not put ropes around the ladders to be able to pull them up once the boat comes out for the winter. Ray dealt with that before it gets too cold in the water. Thanks Dianne for telling him to get to it. lol

This is for you Dianne!

That was our week. Mostly a warm sunny stretch of weather. Tuesday we go on another adventure to Sooke, BC.

Colibabas come! Final days of summer! Sept 2 - 7th

Tuesday other than another bunch of laundry and Ray attacking our spider problem, we sat down on the dock for a couple hours. Bit of a "whoopsie" for him. He missed a rung on the ladder and fell a few feet to the ground. Hopefully other than bruises he didn't "kill" himself. All due to chasing one more spider!

Tonight is movie night next door in Roy and Junes theatre room, to watch F1 with Brad Pitt. There's the 6 of us, Pat and Darryl, Roy and June, and us. I made a batch of carmel pecan popcorn, Pat brought coconut shrimp and June made crab cakes. All delicious.

Movie over at 10 pm and we all left to our beds. It's a great movie surprisingly with it being about Formula 1 racing.

A red sunset due to wildfire smoke.

Wednesday another warm and sunny day. The wildfire smoke moved in, so very hazy out. We took the boat out for a 1.5 hour ride, cruising around Youbou. We wamted to make sure the boat runs okay after servicing. A beautiful ride admiring the houses and dock setups. Ray we need to upgrade!

Captain Ray

Dock Art

Cool house.

Smoke getting heavier, looking towards the end of the lake.

We relaxed for the afternoon down at the dock. Ray is pretty sore after his fall. 

Thursday we met up with Jason for brunch in Duncan before my grocery shopping for the weekend. The Colibaba's and family are coming!

We spent the afternoon on the deck. It's really smokey outside, so no sunshine actually made it through. Looked like fog all day. 

Friday morning, still foggy/smokey outside. It did clear somewhat compared to yesterday. Dianne and Steve showed up about 1:30 and after unpacking, we all headed down to the dock. It's really warm outside, about 30C.

Pictures by Steve, Dianne and myself.

Steve even went swimming. You know it's hot if he goes in lol

Dinner Char Sui Barbecued Pork with Fried Rice.

Steve managed a picture of a great sunset.

After a day down at the dock, we were all in bed early. Their son, daughter-in-law and 2 grandchildren arrive tomorrow morning. Fortunately the weather improved for today. Not as warm but the smoke cleared significantly so it was a nice day down at the dock.

Dianne prepping her salad for tonight's dinner. I got my brined turkey ready for the Traeger. Seemed funny for me to sit and watch this time. lol

Rob, Angie, Connor and Bryce arrived at 10:30 am. Let the fun begin!

Steve did all the boat driving.

Bryce jumping off Roy and June's tower, next door.

Bryce looking at the fish under the dock.

Connor trying to catch some fish.

Connor, Rob and Bryce

Last boat ride of the day.

Angie made a great snack for all of us to share.

Kayak time.

Before dinner Rob, Angie, Connor and Bryce hit the hot tub and then jumped into the lake.

Turkey turned out beautiful and moist.

Steve, Dianne, Connor, Rob, Ray, Deb, Angie and Bryce

My cleanup crew!

After dinner Bryce and Angie were back in the lake for another swim before bed. What a water baby. :)

Sunday morning, Connor helping me make the blueberry pancakes. Last time here, 2 years ago, I taught him how to make brownies and he still makes them at home.

After a big breakfast of bacon, sausage and blueberry pancakes, everyone changed their beds and brought me all the towels and bedding to be washed. Everyone hit the road at 11 am. What a great time was had by all.

Our son-in-law Jason, went on a charter fishing trip out of Port Hardy this weekend. Wow big fish Jason! They originally were going after tuna but the fish did not come in yet.

And just like that .... summer company is over and we now transistion into Fall.

More great weather and wineries and Neighbour Party. August 25 - September 1st

Summer is sure going by fast. Can't believe this is the last week of August already! The weather has been incredibly warm, definitely swimming weather. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we went to a few more wineries on the festival list. It sure makes sense to visit during the festival, as all the tastings are included in the $50 ticket price. Usually they're $15 per person per winery.

A couple of days this week I attacked my planters, digging out overgrown flowers and anything dead ... fall is coming fast. Ray's working on attacking the spider nests all over the west side of the house. We checked with a few pest control companies and with the height of our house. He got quotes of $800 - $1000 including scaffolding. The problem is our house being 3 stories. Nope .... Ray is doing a bit at a time himself. We don't want all those moving inside this winter. His first pass netted 4 dozen spiders.

Being on the water you do get a lot of spiders regardless. We had the house sprayed several years ago and it did not seem to help. Apparently the house needs treatment once a month, like our neighbours, for it to do any good.

We spent our afternoons on the dock swiming. Beautiful weather. We'll take it when we can.

Thursday, our boat is finally ready to be picked up.  We decided to do a couple more wineries, a little grocery shopping and then pick up the boat. We first went for brunch at Brunch on Third, one of our favourite restaurants.

Today's wine festival choices are Alderlea and Emandare. We certainly prefered the wine at Alderlea, one of our favourite wineries to buy from.

Alderlea

Emendare is about 15 minutes away. Beautiful winery with views into the vineyard from the tasting room. We didn't like the taste of this wine as much as some of the others. The owners are a young couple with 2 kids and have to buy a lot of the grapes for their wine as their vines are too young.

Back home at 2:30 and we sat outside on the deck. Although today's cloudy, it's really humid at 25C. We did run into a few rain showers while we were touring the 2 wineries. Not much accumulation though.

Thursday night we appreciated a great sunset. 

Friday we decided to go back into Duncan for lunch at Unsworth Winery, picking up a couple more bottles of wine, and then see 2 more wineries. We've toured 11 of the 13 wineries. Wow.

Ray drinking the Phillips rootbeer.

Ray and his doors

They have a tasting event going on outside the tasting shop.

There are a couple of farm stands on these country roads.

Next up, Cobble Hill Winery. They also have a lavender farm, which would've been beautiful a month ago. I didn't find their wines very tasty either, but we did buy a rose.

Off to the last winery, Divino. We've driven past this place many times, just off Highway 1 at Cobble Hill. The guy that owns it, and supervises making the wine is 91. His daughter does most of the organization of picking etc. He originally owned a winery in Oliver and decided to move to the island in the early 90's, taking cuttings from the Oliver Winery. Now the vines are 30 years old here. He still has some wine from Oliver in barrels that he blends with the new crops here, making a great tasting blend.Very old school wine making. 

I ended up tasting about 8 wines, including dessert wines. She isn't "short" on pouring. We did purchase several bottles lol. Debbie has a warm glow on going home while Ray drove. :)

A great adventure.

Saturday morning we met Jason at Highway 18 junction and picked up Amelia and Olaf for the weekend. Kristi and Jason have an adult birthday party to go to.  We stopped at Tim Horton's for a donut and then on to the Duck Pond park.

Once back at the lake I got my beans going for our dinner next door. Deb and Mike are hosting the strata for a brisket dinner. Then it's time to launch our boat. Amelia got a short boat ride with Papa, while I drove the car and trailer back home. We kept busy all afternoon.

After playing magnatiles we relaxed on the deck. It's too windy at the dock.

At 4 pm it 's time to go next door for dinner. We packed up a bunch of paw patrol cars and people and headed next door. Mike and Debra had other friends come with their granddaughters, 5 years and 2 years. Amelia wasn't too sure about playing directly with them, but they enjoyed Amelia's toys.

Pat, Debra, Lolly, Brad and Brian

Mike and Debra's daughter-in-law, Sara, took the girls downstairs to pick out their freezie.

Now they hang together just in time to go home to bed. lol

A great get together with Mike's brisket, my baked beans, June's smoked macaroni and cheese, Pat's salmon and various other sides, salad, garlic bread and corn. A delicious spread. Not much left at the end. Ray said there's only 2 scoops of my beans left out of a double batch. 

We left with Amelia at 7 to get her into bed. Unfortunately, her camera signal did not reach next door. So we stayed home and the bunch continued more fun without us lol.

Ron

Donna, June, Roy, Pat and Darryl

Look who is taking up my place in my bed!

Sunday, Amelia had a really great sleep so we did too. After our morning TV and pancake breakfast, we walked to the park in the new subdivision.

Back home more playtime. Amelia went to bed her usual time and was out by 7:30 so ended up awake with Papa at 5:50 am the next morning. After breakfast we took her to the Duck Pond Park. Ray walked with her across the old bridge to Ed's Coffee Shop and I took Olaf around in the car. 

After sharing a treat with Papa, we came home to wait for Jason to come and take her home.

Jason arrived at 11 and they were all packed up and headed to Nanaimo by 11:15 am. Whew, a very busy 2 days. Ray took me to lunch for senior's day at Jakes and then we spent the rest of the day on the sundeck. It's too windy at the dock.