Happy Anniversary to us ... 49 years. July 1 - 12

Happy Canada Day!

Another salmon delivery so Ray filleting again. This batch of 5 to be frozen for winter.

Thursday for our anniversary, Ray took me out for breakfast to the Riverside Cafe and then we had Sushi for dinner. Although weather is crappy, cloudy and rained for most of the day, we had a nice day.

Friday, the rain quit so we decided to head  to Nanaimo for a bit of shopping and then ate lunch at Carlos O'Bryan's on Nanaimo's boat harbour. They make great mocktails for Ray.

Look at the size of that piece of fish!

Back home by 1:30 pm. There's quite a bit of sunshine in Nanaimo, but back to clouds at the lake when we got home. 

Otherwise a quiet week.

Tuesday, our landscaper Agata came to tame our hedge. This year it grew probably 2 feet taller and 2 feet or more wider on both sides. What a job. They started at 10 am and other than a lunch break, they didn't finish until 8 pm. They had a whole trailer load of debris to take away.

Before:

These pictures are after. I can see the lake over top of the hedge again, sitting in our chairs. Agata did a fabulous job.

Agata also took out a laurel on our neighbour side of the hedge. It will take a year or so for the stalks to green up again. Currently there is a bit of a hole, but you can see by the dirt how much more garden they will have now for flowering shrubs. 

Wednesday Ray had a doctor's appointment in Nanaimo and I stayed home and puttered. 

Thursday Amelia was dropped off  here at 10:30 am for a weekend with us as her parents are attending a wedding in Victoria. Unfortunately the weather for the weekend was cool and windy so no swimming, but we found other things to do. Ray had an eye exam appointment and found out a "secondary cataract"  returned to his left eye and will require another surgery.

Definitely an old style wedding. Kristi and Jason look fabulous with the top hat and fascinator.

Thursday we watched Amelia ride her new bike. Jason had the bike modified so Amelia didn't have to bend her left leg as much and swapped the rear brake to her left hand which has a bit longer fingers.

Ray also had some puzzle time with her and we played games while I was making the spaghetti sauce for dinner.

We took a short drive to the library to get some books for bedtime stories and then walked over to the duck pond for some playtime.

Friday morning for Amelia's second breakfast, we made blueberry pancakes. She is getting really good measuring out everything and making the batter. After dish cleanup, we went on a trip into Duncan to pick up some crafting supplies and a few other errands. For lunch we stopped at McDonalds as they have a great play area that Amelia enjoys. There were other kids there and joined them too this time, so she had a great time. Exercise for her and we didn't have to participate. lol

Once we were back home it was time for crafting. I think we did a pretty good job since crafting is definitely not in my wheelhouse lol. Good thing for Mr. Google.

..

Amelia decided to make a train, we all had to board, including her doll lol. We all took turns driving.

Saturday after breakfast and our morning routine, we decided to drive to Cowichan Bay and take Amelia to the Maritime Museum. She really enjoyed it, especially pretending to pilot the big ship in huge waves showing on the video screen. The weather is much nicer compared to the clouds at the lake.

Several houseboats in the harbour.

Amelia, with Grandpa's help, made a sailboat.

Very old outboard motors on display.

Next up Chinese Food for lunch. Amelia's favourite. We tried out the new to us restaurant next door to the museum. It's good and we'll definitely eat there again. There were enough left-overs for dinner.

On the way home we stopped at the Old Farm Market for a few things ... there's also ice cream involved! Theyhave an old tractor display in front of the market, so Ray and Amelia checkedthem out while I shopped.

Once we got back home, Amelia painted her sailboat that she made at the museum.

OK. Time to chill. Grandma and Grandpa are tired lol I gave her a bath at 4 pm so she's all clean to go home tomorrow and her hair had time to dry before bedtime.

Sunday morning, we ate left over pancakes for breakfast. After getting dressed, Amelia made her bed and we picked up all the toys and put them back upstairs. Great help Amelia!. Kristi and Jason were running behind so we decided to make blueberry muffins to take up some time. They turned out delicious. 

Jason and Kristi arrived just before 11 am, ate a muffin, packed up all her stuff including borrowing our bike rack for Amelia's bike. Their truck bed is full of wedding stuff to return for their friends. By 11:15 the house is quiet again!

Ray took me out for lunch to the Riverside Pub and then we came back home. I had a nap!

Chemainus Theatre and smoked salmon - June 21 - 30

On Sunday we got our call to pick up our 4 fresh sockeye from our friend Warren, across the lake. Monday morning Ray got busy filleting and I brined it ready for the smoker.

24 hours in the brine and then rinsed. 24 hours in the fridge to set  and on the Traeger Wednesday morning. 4 fish made exactly 2 sheet pans of candied sockeye salmon. Yumm. Of course there are 5 missing pieces as testers lol

Meanwhile, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons were spent down at the dock. Extremely warm weather .... 29C to 32C over 3 days.

Wednesday night we went to the "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" at the Chemainus Theatre with Pat and Darryl. What an excellent show with lots of laughs. We also ate one of the best buffet dinners that we remember. Stellar evening.  You cannot take pictures of the production but they posted these online.

Thursday the clouds moved in and it's much cooler outside at13.5C. Today is a Nanaimo trip as I've a doctor appointment. The predicted rain didn't really start until late  afternoon and overnight.

Friday woke up to gloomy skies and showers. I took the car into Toyota for them to check the battery problem. Three hours later they finally agreed that a new battery was in order. It took running the test 4 times for it to fail. We also had the control panel for the sunroof fixed as well as it fell out of the roof 3 times previously.

Saturday, after a lazy start, I was ready to make us our weekend "big breakfast". Started out by frying bacon, or attempting to. Our stove is out of propane! Supposedly our tanks are monitored, which we pay extra for. First time this happened in the 8 years we've been here.

Had to finish bacon in toaster oven and make my scrambled eggs in the microwave. After Ray had a pointed discussion on the phone with Superior Propane, we are getting a delivery on Monday.  Our barbecue is hooked up to the in house propane line as well, so that also cannot be used. Barring digging out our camping propane stove, I guess Ray is taking me out for dinner for the next 2 days.

Monday morning we had our propane delivery ... and invoice. Not cheap, but probably will last us 2 years again. lol Nothing exciting here. We've had almost a week of cloudy, cool weather. Not great for outside activities, but great for the forest fire season.

Tuesday, June 30 ... the last day of the month. Boy time is flying by. Today we decided to go find the sunshine. We've been having mostly cloudy days for the past week, so we drove to Ladysmith for lunch and it's sunny! The Fox and Hound has great food and beer, especially for Ray. Lots of non-alcoholic choices. Back home at 2 we were able to sit out on the deck for a bit.

That's our week.

Father's Day Weekend, Garrett, Kat and Stella come to the lake - June 17 - 20

Our son Garrett, Kat and Stella arrived at 11:30 on Friday morning to visit us for Father's Day Weekend. The. weather todayis sunny and warm, perfect for dock time and swimming in the lake. Garrett hasn't been at the lake since December 2018.

After they unloaded we headed out to the Riverside Pub and Restaurant for a delicious lunch on their patio. I'm smoking a pork roast on the Traeger, so didn't want to make lunch too. lol

We were down at the dock by 1 pm. Lots of swimming for Stella and Garrett. Even Kat went in for a dip.

Garrett swam over to Roy and Junes tower to jump.

Dinner turned out great, bacon wrapped pork shoulder roast.

A perfect 145F 

Story time before bed.

Had a relaxing evening and bed by 10 pm.

Saturday, unfortunately, although the sun's out it's really windy ... too windy for lake activities. 

In the morning I made a batch of pancakes and sausages for breakfast.

Ray's back hasn't been great and when Ray mentioned he wanted to mow the lawn, Garrett decided he will do it instead, including weed eating. Years ago in Haida Gwaii, he had a lawn mowing business at 12 years old. Thanks a bunch Garrett, it's appreciated. 

Stella watching from the sundeck.

We were quite the pair this weekend, Ray's back in terrible shape and my left foot swollen from Plantar Fasciitis. I hadn't had an outbreak for quite some time. The kids helped with all the cleanup after meals with Ray's help. I sat down with my foot up.

The wind died down a bit around 10 am so Ray took them for a boat ride to the fuel dock and a short spin down the lake. Stella enjoyed Papa buying her some candy from the store at the fuel dock. lol

With the lawn mowed, Stella showed off her gymnastic routines that she just did for her graduation. She sure is flexible.

Lunch time.

After lunch, Ray took them for a little tour, the duck pond and Little Beach where the tubers come out of the river and then of course ice cream.

Back home more "chillin" while I got our chicken on the barbecue. We were able to sit up on the deck for the evening before coming into watch a little TV. Tonight we were in bed at nine. Garrett and Kat watched TV for awhile before calling it a night.

Morning Cuddles. (ice pack on my foot)

Sunday breakfast is Eggs Benedict. After breakfast Kat and Garrett rushed around gathering all their stuff and changed all the beds for me. It 's a much nicer day on the lake with less wind today. Unfortunately they had to leave by 10:50 am to head to Nanaimo for their ferry home.

Here is Stella on the ferry wishing they could stay longer with us, according to Kat.

We loved having you come and see us! 

Stella graduated from Kindergarden this year and Amelia graduated from Pre-School.

Stella age 6

Amelia - age 5