The "calm before the storm"! Company's a comin.

Kristi and dogs left Sunday afternoon. Ray and I had a relaxing afternoon reading and watching the rain come down.

Monday was quite cool at 4C but seemed much colder. There is a sprinkling of new snow on top of the mountains surrounding us. This week will be busy getting ready for lots of company this next weekend for Easter, menu planning etc. Garrett and Kat will be coming over from Squamish, Kristi and Jason will be here and Jason's parents will be Saturday for dinner and possibly stay overnight. Everyone will be gone on Monday and Wednesday our good friends Steve and Dianne are coming for 3 days. It will be great to see them again as it's been a year since we last were able to get together, well before we moved into our new house here at the lake.

So far the deer have only tried three of the six dianthus (look like carnations) plants. They are not supposed to like them and since the other three are untouched maybe it's true. lol Need to get some other flowering deer resistant perennials to fill in between the shrubs that we have planted. We don't want much dirt to show to collect weeds. Still too cold to plant anything other than perennials and shrubs though. Ray will have to get the rest of the back lawn seeded this week as well to give the grass a chance to grow before the backyard has a lot more use later this spring. The grass is behind as the yard does not get any sun until mid-March being north facing.

Bat cave update. There does not appear to be any evidence on the side of the house that the bats are still coming in and out of the house. This has been confirmed by our neighbours. Also Ray's screening of the front arch seems to have stopped the majority of them going in there at night as there has been only the odd little poop left behind. Hopefully we have this problem solved without getting pest control in as it is probably "nesting season" and it is illegal to touch them during this time.

After morning chores and running into Duncan for a few things, Ray and I spent an hour on the deck with the heaters and fire table on enjoying the view. The sun is finally high enough in the sky to get a few afternoon sunbeams although this picture does not show it. lol

Tuesday, Ray headed to Nanaimo for an appointment and stopped in at Jason and Kristi's to see their progress on their tiling in their entrance way. Great job Jason.






David Coulson, arrived by 9:30 to re-install our propane fireplace downstairs... took him about 1 1/2 hours to do so, I think he was quite frustrated. Too F'n bad Ray says All is done now other than the bedroom window frame to be fixed.

The electrician's should show up today or tomorrow to pull the downstairs electrical plugs above the kitchen counter in preparation for Jason to put in the tile backsplash down there this weekend. With all of their recent reno's, he is a pro at tiling!

Wednesday, it rained overnight but had stopped by the time I got up. Apparently we are in for a bunch more later today and tomorrow with the promise of sun for the weekend. The lake is now at 48% capacity.

Off to Duncan for me to get provisions for our family Easter Weekend. :) Stopped at Dinter's Nursery and picked up a bunch of deer resistant perennials to fill the front garden and some more varieties of heather for the back garden. All planted except for three rhodo's Ray brought me home from Costco yesterday. It turned out to be a sunny afternoon so it made sense to plant everything before the rain tonight. I also moved the dianthus into pots to prevent more munching from the deer. We are having our regular gardeners here on Friday to seed the rest of the lawn for Ray, there is a bit of cleaning up of the existing lawn before they throw the seed down. I will also get them to plant the large plants for me. Will and Cindy can dig the 2 foot holes. lol

Tonight we met up with our good friends Martin and Suzanne Blyt at the Mahle House Restaurant in Nanaimo for the Chef's Plate Wednesday. Had a fabulous time and the food was as spectacular as the company. They had never been there and want to make it a monthly tradition. As they live in French Creek and we live here at the lake it is right in the middle.

Thursday morning woke up to heavy rain. Great for my new plants. Busy day here getting ready for Easter weekend, Kristi and Jason arrive for dinner.

Ray's new chair was delivered this morning. It is the same as mine as his neck is deteriorating and our old style of lazyboy hurts him like it did me. The delivery guys graciously took the old chair  downstairs for us to Kristi's guest suite.

Now we match. lol

The electrician came by to deactivate the kitchen counter plugs in preparation for Jason's tiling job this weekend. I had him help me move the furniture around to fit the chair. Looks great. Easier to move around the space without the kitchen blocked off.

Empty plug sockets again!

The rest of my day was spent getting my lasagna ready for dinner for the kids when they get here tonight. Let the Easter Festivities begin.

Turned out Kristi had a last minute meeting and Jason is still grouting their tile so the kids won't get here until tomorrow .... Lasagna for lunch. lol