Busy, busy, busy and a quick trip to Vancouver.

Ray and I have been so busy this past week arranging contractors, going to Vancouver (me).... I forgot to take any pictures.

Monday the gardeners came back and finished off the hedge, I now have our view back on our sundeck. :)

They did our side first and then did the neighbours side.

I rented a car on Tuesday am and went over to Vancouver to stay for a night in order to go to Surrey City Hall first thing on Wednesday morning and pay the property taxes on Dad's house. I never received the notice, so I needd to go there in person. It turns out they addressed it to me at Dad's house and the mail as usual was stolen! I put in a change of address for any of Dad's mail but as they addressed it to me it was delivered. Anyways got it sorted out, payed the taxes and changed the address for future correspondence to our new Lake Cowichan address.

After paying the taxes on Wednesday, I met up with my Aunt and Uncle in Coquitlam for lunch at their favorite pub, The John B. I had 2 boxes of old dishes to drop off for them to take up to Babine Lake as a donation to the place they stay at every year. Last year the lodge had a fire that destroyed quite a few of the buildings at the fishing resort. Great to catch up with them.

Aunt Norma, me and Uncle Ken

After lunch I made the run to catch the Horseshoe Bay ferry back to Nanaimo. I did not want to stay another night as it was really weird staying in a mostly empty house ... also some car drove through our driveway the night before, making me a little nervous with all of the break-in's currently happening in the neighbourhood. Made it back home at 6:30 pm. Thursday morning, early, we drove to Duncan to turn back in the rental car so I only had to pay for 2 days instead of 3. Did a little shopping and came back home.

Friday, we took a drive up to Nanaimo to look at a new stove at Coast Appliances. I am not happy with the old Electrolux range currently in my kitchen, the burners cook unevenly. Kristi is coming to stay over night at the lake so we picked up her 2 dogs from doggy daycare and brought them home with us.  My neck is still bothering me after all of the lifting of boxes from the move, hopefully it corrects itself soon. It is hampering me doing too much and there is much to do. 

As Kristi's arrival time was somewhat up in the air, we stopped at KFC in Ladysmith on the way home so supper would be ready whenever she showed up. The dogs sure liked the smell in the car all the way home. :) Freya was beside herself when we unlocked the house and her two buddies roared in. We had left her home as it was quite warm outside.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny morning so we all sat out on the sundeck with our coffee. First time since we moved in it was warm enough.  By 8 am Kristi, with Ray's direction, were outside replanting some plants from the back gardens into the front as the back is getting redone. Thanks for all of your help Kristi. While they were busy I made scones for breakfast.

By 10:30 it was dock time. We all sat on our chairs enjoying the sun and breeze down on the dock. You could certainly tell it was going to be a scorcher today. By 12:30 we came back up for some lunch and then Kristi headed out with her two dogs to meet a friend in Ladysmith to go on a hike.

Ray and I spent the rest of the afternoon up on our sundeck in the shade watching all of the boats going by. A lovely day.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny too. Wow ... 2 days in a row! lol After a few chores we decided to  see Skutz Falls in the Cowichan Lake Provincial Park. We should have checked a little closer as to where we were going. Ended up going about 8km past our turn off. We checked out the other couple of stops on our way back to the Skutz Falls Trailhead. There was no place on the map that actually showed how far the falls were .... so we will have to investigate this further from our armchairs first. lol

The Cowichan River becomes quite narrow here, further up there was a guy fishing. Apparently the Cowichan River is one of the best sports fishing rivers in BC with lots of access spots nearby from the road.

Once back home it was time to have lunch and then get down to the dock and stay cool. Ray decided to put together the deck box and picnic table we purchased from Costco last week. 

Today the temps went up to 30C. Pretty warm after days and days of cool weather. It will take a little time to acclimatize but jumping in the lake works pretty good. :) Love the heat pump though when you are tired of the heat.

Tonight, I took Ray out for dinner at the pub for Father's Day. We arrived fairly early fortunately, as it sure became packed by the time we left. Lots of other people with the same idea after a day on the water. Both Garrett and Kristi called to wish him a Happy Father's Day. (Thanks kids)

Monday, Ray spent the morning on the phone making appointments with more contractors for quotes regarding the dock, address changes, concrete wall, etc. I drove into Duncan to stock up with food. Ray's sister Judy, is arriving tomorrow for a visit. As she is "Gluten Free" I have to get a few items so she will feel right at home. Once back home, after our appointment at the bank, it was time to get down to the dock for a swim. Temps were 33C when I got back. A lovely way to spend the afternoon. Hot enough that Ray even went into the water a couple of times. The lake still is a little chilly but will certainly warm up this week as the temps are forecast to stay hot.