Amelia comes to stay overnight, Easter Crafts and Bob Sieger Concert - March 18 - 28

Back to rainy days again. Flooding risks and landslides in the lower mainland. The lake has risen about 3 feet in the past few days. Looking forward to spring and some sunny days.

Lake level March 20th. This should be the height when they put the new weir in. Too bad 3 feet of this water will run out into the river before they can hold any back. All reports are showing a dry summer at this point for the south island.

My cell phone contract is expiring in April, so I either upgrade or buy my old one out for $700. As mine is a Galaxy S24 Ultra all the info told me that the S26 Ultra is much better, especially the camera.  I traded up while tthere's a sale on, so saved a bunch of money. When I received the new phone, I did a data transfer between phones and then had to enter all the passwords into my apps. The app for the security cameras would not accept the password! We've had trouble with this last year with Ray's new phone but a technician was able to get it going. 

No matter what I tried, it wasn't working. I tried to get into the security computer and could not get in as admin to change password either. Good thing I'm retired, I spent 6 plus hours on the phone with the security companies (yes plural) to find a solution. Our original install was done by Price Alarms 8 years ago, then they sold to ADT and then sold to Telus Smart Security! ADT/Telus Smart Security now collects money from us for monitoring doors etc anyways, but no one's able to help. I was given a phone number for the customer service for the HVR, Hikvision, so tried that avenue. After spending an hour on the phone with them, downloading 2 different programs on my laptop, no luck. 

It finally turned out that the unit that we bought is now "outlawed" in Canada for security purposes as of last July, as it's manufactured in China! So no password help. I even took it apart to see if there was a reset button inside the unit ... nope! Our HVR needs replacing and I was hoping that the rest of our system would be compatible (cameras, wiring etc).

Wednesday afternoon a nice guy, Josh, owner from a local security company came. He replaced the HVR and was able to use the hard drive out of the old one so savings there. Unfortunately only 1 of the 4 cameras is new enough to be compatible. Josh had one extra with him so installed that, but next week 2 more will be replaced. What a pain in the butt. Anyways, this equipment is from Europe (Ajax) and has lifetime software support for free. EcoSecurity Alarm and Camera Systems from Duncan have been great and gave me a good deal on replacement equipment. Apparently they've had quite a few old "Price/Telus" customers needing help replacing stuff.

Thursday, after my hair appointment, we headed into Duncan for some shopping as the rain stopped for awhile. I'm checking out computers at Best Buy. I dropped mine on the edge a few weeks ago and cracked the keyboard frame. Now my mouse sometimes works and sometimes does not! The cost of ram is going up substantially this year, (on the news) due to all the Ai data servers. So I decided to bite the bullet now and get a new one before mine quits altogether. I like lots of storage on my computer as I don't want to have to pay more for "cloud storage". Hard to find computers with 32gb and 1tb of memory. Of course the extended warranty I bought for my old one expired last September! Ended up ordering one from BestBuy online with the memory I wanted. Should be here the beginning of next week. Already the cost of ram has gone up ... 32gb used to be $130, it is now over $300 for the same thing.

So that is 3 big expenses of "fixes" so hopefully the rule of three applies and that is it!

While in Duncan, we ate late lunch at Dragon Yuan Cafe, by the Best Buy. We shared a dinner for one and had some left-overs for Ray's dinner later. They are very reasonable at $22 for a 3 combo dinner. I didn't have to cook :)

We actually had a nice weekend weatherwise. I planted my strawberries in the greenhouse on Saturday. Ray installed my automatic window opener. I tested it with ice water and it works lol

Ray spent the majority of his time in his wood shop, making planters. I'm in a cooking mode. lol Pork Tonakatsu for dinner.

Saturday morning I got out for a walk using my new nordic walking sticks.... they are right! You get a full body workout, I could definitely feel it when I got home. Hot tub time lol

Sunday morning we woke to cold temps and there is new snow on the hills across the lake! Beautiful out there but a very cold wind. Hope my strawberry plants didn't freeze.

Penny, my garden angel, came Sunday and Monday to clean the debris and weeds out my front gardens. It looks fabulous. Back gardens will be done next week. I leave the dead leaves over winter as that's where the bumble bees hibernate. Once they start flying, which they did a week ago, the leaves can be cleaned out.

Before: 

The new neighbours are packing in more new furniture (mattresses) while their roof is being replaced, which was part of the deal for purchase. Lots of banging going on next door for a few days.

They hired Penny to look after their gardens too, so my view will remain lovely. :)

Now the garden looks like this. Should be a mass of colour in a couple of months with all the iris's.

The lavender bed hasn't started to grow yet, so pretty dead looking.

In a couple of weeks we will get a load of topsoil to top up the gardens, once the plants have grown a bit taller. There is a lot of gravel showing from all the rain.

For some reason a bunch of daffodil bulbs we planted last fall did not grow? Penny and I must have planted over 150. Maybe too wet this year, or a bad batch of bulbs.

Ray mowed the lawn for the first time on Monday and got the lime put on. After the rain event coming this week it will be time to get the moss killer down. 3/4 of the back lawn is all moss. We are having our yard maintenance person, Agata, come and aerate and thatch it in April. (She is the one that trims our big hedge annually and does a fabulous job.)

Monday I decided to play in my kitchen, using up old stuff soon to expire. I had a small butternut squash on the counter that had lived there for a month or so ... I also had an open package of wonton wrappers. So for lunch I made roasted butternut ravioli in brown butter and prawns. (the prawns were part of a package that had a bunch of ice in it)

There was a container of ricotta unopened and also expiring and I also had sheet pasta that was starting to get freezer burnt, an italian sausage package also getting ice, so I decided to make a couple of lasagna's. Using my frozen tomato sauce I made last August, made a great meat sauce. I hate throwing out food, so I do try to utilize stuff when I can. Ray doesn't complain. lol

By 12:30, we had ravioli for lunch and I had 2 small lasagna's, one for the freezer and one for Tuesday night dinner as we would be out all afternoon with Amelia.

On Tuesday we are having Amelia stay overnight for a couple of nights during her Spring Break. We woke to a very showery morning. We met up with Jason at the Highway 18 intersection at 11am and picked up Amelia.

First up  a little shopping at Walmart and giving my old computer to Seaside Computers to transfer data onto my new computer. We went to McDonald's for lunch as they have a play area.

The weather is cold and wet outside so an hour of climbing helped wear her out lol

Back home by 2 for lots of indoor playtime with Grandpa and me. I play too, but I'm also the one taking pictures lol

I had bought some travel magnatiles and blocks for Amelia, so we have them when taking her to restaurants and our summer trip to Pinantan Lake. Always nice to have new toys. :)

Happy girl at our house.

She is finally big enough to play "Hands Down", a game I saved from when Kristi and Garrett were kids.

I popped the lasagna into the oven for dinner. At bedtime we had our cuddle time and stories. She went right to sleep and slept through all night. Yay for me. :)

Up at 5:45 am. Quiet time with her tablet. She is wearing her unicorn mask. lol

Another busy day today. Started out with blueberry pancakes that Amelia helped me make. Her and I have made pancakes almost everytime she has been here since she was big enough to help mix. Now that she is 5, she does most of it herself.

Papa and Amelia doing her train puzzle.

I had to go to Country Grocer for a couple of things and so after that we went to Tim Horton's for donuts.

Back home for lunch, she made her own sandwich. 

Later in the afternoon, at 2 pm, it's time to go to Pat's, next door for Easter Crafts. We're not very "crafty" and neither is Jason or Kristi, so it's great for Pat to offer. She's done tons of crafts over the years with her grandchildren and she continues to do her own crafts.

Amelia kept on task for 2 hours! Pat is amazed at her focus. Pat and I had a glass of wine after so Amelia played with some magnets that she had for her grandchildren. Always fun times at Pat's!

Tonight's dinner is homemade pizza. Amelia got to make her own.

Eating the left over pineapple lol

Tonight it took a little longer for her to fall asleep and she had me up once at 1:30 am with a few tears, "I miss my mommy". Fortunately that is the only time and she slept through until 6:15 am.

Breakfast is a decorated pancake with sausages, her favourite.

We had a great time with her. Jason came at 10 am to take her home. So we did a lot of sitting at the table or couch playing. I don't sleep particularly well as I always have "an ear" on her sleeping upstairs.

Thursday afternoon, we had Josh from EcoSecurity come to finish installing our new cameras. The system now works great and the app on our phones work as well. While I'm keeping track of Josh, Ray finished another puzzle. In January, from FaceBook Marketplace, he bought a huge stack of them from a lady clearing out a shed in Nanaimo. A lot of the puzzles have not even been open. He has lots to choose from. He works on projects in the morning and then in the afternoon he does his puzzles.

Friday we enjoyed a quiet morning before heading out to Nanaimo at 3 pm. We're going to the Bob Sieger (revival) Concert at the Port Theatre. Ray had a bit of shopping to do for his woodshop beforehand. We parked in the underghround parking nextto the theatre and then we walked over to the Old City Station Pub for dinner.

It 's a busy night at the pub. We were lucky we were there early, or we wouldn't have had a seat. It's the Blue Jay's opener as well as a large reserved portion for a birthday party. They have Richards Red on tap, which I haven't had for years and Ray also has Iota 0 alcohol Pale Ale on tap. For dinner, I ordered loaded potato skins and Ray the smoked meat sandwich. Delicious. We saw plates of fish and chips go by us and the fish is HUGE. Something to try next time. Only downside is that they have coated fries which is not our favourite.

After dinner and a couple of brew to waste time, we walked back to Port Theatre. We were about 15 minutes too early before they opened the doors, so we sat on a bench across the street on the waterfront. Good thing we were early as there are only a few chairs to sit on inside the vestibule. I had a wine while we waited. All the benches were full before they allowed people into the theatre at 7 pm.

The show was pretty good. The first half was better where the band did the tribute to John Fogarty with recognizable songs. Our seats were K30 and K31. Unfortunately when I picked them for the legroom, I didn't realize people would be sitting in front of us in the aisle. I will choose seats at the end of the row next time, K24 and K 25 instead which would move us to the left and we would have an unobscured view of the stage.

Rock and Roll Girls.

After intermission the band, changed outfits to portray Bob Sieger and band. This half of the concert, the music was great, but they chose more obscure songs that we didn't know. They did play some we did though. 

Bad Moon Rising.

That was the past 10 days. Time is "a flying by"! Hopefully now that it is spring .... the spring weather starts and no more really cold temperatures. It's time to plant!

Happy St. Paddy's Day - March 11 - 17th

It has been a week of interesting weather. We had snow, sun, rain and wind, cold temps to warm temps. Other than our exercise class Wednesday's and Fridays, Ray has spent most of his mornings in his workshop making planters for Kristi. (These were promised last year lol) I spent my time on household chores, laundry, cooking etc. I have also been planning out my greenhouse and garden situation and I can't wait for the weather to get better so I can start. I have to reorganize how I put my planters this year with the greenhouse now in the front of the garage and where to plant what as the tomatoes and peppers will be in the greenhouse.

On Saturday, March 14th, it turned out to be a beautiful day, but we had a very cold wind here on the lake. Too cold to sit outside. After morning chores it was time for a drive to enjoy the sunshine. We decided to have lunch at the Lion Rampant Pub in Maple Bay after doing a bit of shopping in Duncan. The Lion has great fish and chips.

Earlier this week Roy and June were caught in a traffic jam outside our gate! Some of the elk at this time of year have dropped their horns, but not these guys. Quick close our gate!

Sunday afternoon the clouds moved in. Ray went down to the boat and turned on the bilge pump to get rid of any water from the previous rain as we were going to get another extended "Atmospheric River". Here at the lake for the first few days wasn't so bad, only a few periods of heavy downpours, mostly overnight. There are flooding concerns up and down the island as this pineapple express has brought warm temperatures with it so all the snow we received the past week or so on the mountains is now melting along with the added rain into the rivers and streams as we are at a balmy 10C. Hopefully it gets colder up the mountains soon to stop the snow pack melt that we need for the summer. (As of March 18th, the lake has come up about 2.5 feet)

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

I decided to cook and Irish themed dinner and invited Pat, Darryl and Sevie along with June and Roy over. Irish Whiskey, wine and bubbly were enjoyed. lol Everyone had to wear green.

I had made Guiness Beef Pot Pies and June provided a tasty salad, in the colours of the Irish Flag. I had also tried my hand making an Irish Apple Cake for dessert along with Irish Coffee's. Pat and Darryl brought wine. (we all brought wine lol) Pat also made me a shamrock for my table. She is so talented!

Cheers!

Irish Whiskey

We had a great evening catching up as we really have not got together since Christmas.

Lots going on at Roy and June's new house. They are now getting their basement finished. Here is their gyproc delivery. That crane actually swung around and delivered the load down the far side of their house by the basement. Quite the tricky landing zone and of course it was raining to they wanted it done pretty quick.

My spring bulbs are starting to pop out.

Ray and I met the new neighbours (Roy and June's old house) Saturday afternoon on the driveway when we got back from Maple Bay. It was a beautiful day and they were sitting out front on their patio. They arrived on Friday, March 13th to take possession of their vacation house and had lots of family over to see it. How exciting for them and their 11 year old son who has lots of younger cousins that were also visiting. I predict lots of "happy sounds" coming from their dock this year.

It was an easy move in for them as they also bought a lot of the furniture with the house.

Ray finished another puzzle.

Another week gone by!

Dianne and Steve come for the weekend! March 1 - 10th

The weather has turned into spring weather. Warm days and showery weather with the odd sunny day thrown in. We did manage a campfire in between days of rain.

Someone trying out fishing before the Frostbite Derby on the weekend!

With the nicer weather, I fired up my pizza oven on the deck.

Ta Da! Only one edge slightly over toasted this time. :)

It was a bit of a cooking week for me. I even made fresh pasta for the first time in a long while. Used my new food processor I got for Christmas and of course used my pasta maker attachment for my mixmaster. Turned out delicious with my homemade tomato sauce from last year's harvest and mixed with ground beef and mild italian sausage. (Description for you Frannie!)

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Ray spent getting stuff ready for Steve and Dianne's arrival on Thursday. Steve is coming down to go in the Frostbite Derby on Saturday and will help launch the boat Friday morning. Ray managed to finally get ahold of this guy across the lake from us, Dennis, that actually catches fish all the time. After a great conversation on the guys boat, Ray took a bunch of pictures of his gear. Then it was off for a quick trip to Nanaimo on Tuesday morning to Harbour Chandler for more fishing tackle lol.

Boat batteries were dead as a doornail .... someone forgot to turn off the battery switch over the winter and did not periodically put the charger on them????? They were dropped off on Monday and we picked them up on Wednesday as I had some grocery shopping to do in Duncan. Fortunately, as they were only a year old, the charge came back up ready for launching the boat Friday morning. 

My Aerogarden is doing well on my counter. Soon I will have fresh herbs outside at the end of April.

Jason dropped Olaf off about 9:30 am as we have him for 5 days while the kids are in Vancouver. Dianne wanted to meet him forever..... Olaf turned 2 years old on February 2nd. Part of the deal if we took him, Dianne would have to help walk him. lol

Steve and Dianne arrived around 2:30 pm on Thursday and we were able to sit outside on the deck and enjoy the fire table and heaters.

I made a Prime Rib Roast on the barbeque for dinner with the fixin's.

Hang on Dianne!

Friday morning after a big breakfast, the guys pulled the boat out, and installed the bimini cover. Soon after, they headed out to launch the boat. Fortunately it started easily and Ray was soon at the dock, while Steve drove the car and trailer back.

Here he comes.

Ray got the boat all tied up and then Steve and Ray put the trailer back into the garage. Now my greenhouse can move up to the front of the house. :)

Steve helped Ray get the greenhouse bolted to it's platform and then they pushed it up Mike's driveway and down ours to in front of the boat garage. Got a little snow on it Monday morning. lol

Since the sun had come out we decided to go for a drive to Duncan (Ray need an extension to his downrigger power) and have lunch at Arrowsmith Brewing for a little outing. Tonight will be beef dip leftovers anyways. Thanks for lunch Dianne and Steve. They had this cool sign there as this used to be motorcycle shop, now a brewery.

Back home we were back out on the deck for the rest of the afternoon. Good thing I got those heavy poly curtains. :)

Friday morning, the boys were out of the house and in the boat for 7:45 am to hopefully catch a fish for the Frostbite Derby. Unfortunately 4 hours in the morning and a couple more after lunch they were unsuccessful. It was a windy, grey day but at least it didn't rain. Ray was warned by Dennis that this time of year is not great fishing. There were 20+ fish turned in though, but we think they caught them at the end of the lake near Shaw Creek or Bear Lake, and it was too nasty on the water for the guys to go that far in our boat.

These guys stayed out really late, we saw them come by our dock later in the afternoon.

2 guys fishing from shore

The guys were in by 3 and called it a day. After sitting outside for an hour or so, they headed out to the legion at 4:30 for the weigh in and prizes. Dinner apparently was disapointing. Dianne and I just relaxed and had leftover Split Pea Soup with buttermilk biscuits I'd made earlier in the day to warm the guys up.

There apparently were lots of prizes to give out by a number drawn. Steve got a fish gaff/bonker, Ray got a pair of boots that hopefully he can exchange for a proper size. There was probably 100 people there that had entered. They guys sure didn't see that many boats out though, but you were allowed to fish Bear Lake too.

While the guys were out, Dianne and I chillaxed. :)

Sunday morning I made crepes for breakfast after a relaxing morning.

After breakfast, the fabulous kitchen crew did the dishes, then the group took Olaf for his walk in the park next door. I went shopping for some dinner ingredients. Baked chicken quarters and fried rice and lots of veggies. I prepped for dinner when I got back from the store. Lots of chopping for a quick cooking dish. :) and the rice had to be made and cooled in the fridge until cooking it later.

Since the weather turned out so nice although very windy, we decided to go into Youbou and have a late lunch at the Youbou Pub. Our treat this time. With the time change last night the day got away from us. Good thing today was not the derby with the wind. Whitecaps everywhere.

Again the rest of the afternoon spent on the deck.

All too soon the visit was over. It started snowing this morning while the Colibabas were getting ready to leave. Apparently it was only snowing here and once they hit Duncan, it was dry roads and sunshine all the way home to Courtenay. We had on and off snow showers, hail, wet snow and sunny periods all day. What wacky weather. Only here though. A delivery driver came at 2:30 and it was still sunny in Duncan, while snowing here.

Tomorrow our car goes in for servicing in Duncan for an oil change and regular maintenance. Hopefully the roads are ok, more snow forecasted for tonight.

Jason will be here around noon to pick up Olaf. 

Tuesday morning, snowing at the lake, but as soon as I was on the hill on Highway 18 there were dry roads all the way to Toyota. Glad I left early.

The snow started in Duncan at 8:20 am, an hour after I left the lake. Ray took a picture at 8:30 and we have more snow.

Our maintenace took 6 hours, from 8 am to 2 pm. Good thing I went instead of Ray. After doing a couple of errands and lunch at Whitespot, I managed to get back home by 3:30. No snow in Duncan and 6C. Coming home I hit heavy snow about 13 km from home. It is only 1C here. There was apparently a big 3 car accident earlier this morning on Highway 18 and one of the trucks was still in the ditch. Nice to be home safe and sound.