The neighbours come to dinner. Sept 8 - 14

Tuesday was a warm sunny day but we had quite a bit of smoke from the fires in Washington float up our way. These pictures were from the morning, but it got quite a bit thicker in the afternoon before clearing out at dinner time.

I spent a good part of my day in the kitchen prepping for our neighbour dinner tomorrow and dealing with leftovers. Laundry was also happening as our sewer system is having some alterations for the new subdivision above ours that will hook into the main system tomorrow. They asked for minimal flushing and laundry while the connection is being made. 

Made Chinese pork steamed buns for the first time. Yumm. The "pleating" is not uniform as bought ones, but what the heck ... they tasted good. They went well with the ham and split pea soup that I also made in the InstantPot.

Finally when I went to sit down outside at 3 pm I found it too hot and too smokey, so came back inside. That basically was our day.

Wednesday morning was not as smokey with only a little haze outside. Will be another busy day with guests for dinner. With the prep I did yesterday, Ray and I were able to sit down at the dock for an hour or so and go swimming in the afternoon. Boy was it hot out, even the breeze was warm.

Got the Roast Beast on the barbecue at 2:00 pm as I was not too sure how long it would actually take. It actually took 3 hours exactly so I will know for next time.

Everyone arrived right on time at 6 pm. After appies of stuffed mushrooms and chips with fresh salsa and guacamole, we went on to the main event.  Lots of wine and laughs. Pat made a wonderful salad and for dessert, June made a raspberry cheesecake.

Social distancing in effect. :) Everyone went in one door, filled up and went out the other patio door. I didn't even need arrows on the floor. lol

Also toasted Pat and Darryl with Champagne as it's their birthdays next week, 13 and 14th of September

The birthday pair.

After dinner we moved under the gazebo to enjoy the rest of the evening. A great time again with our neighbours. June and Roy are up next some time in October. :)

Thursday another gorgeous morning and going to be a hot one. Not much on the docket today, just kitchen cleanup and lots of swimming and dock time.

Friday woke up to very smokey skies. We were going to go for a drive to Port Renfrew today but I think we will pass on that. Ray's pictures would not be the best.

We then decided to head into Nanaimo for a shopping expedition. There were a few things that we cannot get here or in Duncan. Freya came and we dropped her off at Jason and Kristi's to spend the afternoon with their dogs, which she loves. Met up with Kristi at Original Joe's for lunch. Yumm. Ray and I both ordered the Friday fish and chip special.

Kristi's "cheeseburger". Delicious.

Back at Kristi's to pick up Freya and a bag of Kristi's Italian plums from her tree, we were off back to the lake. A long day but a successful one. Still very smokey here at the lake. It was not as bad in Nanaimo until later in the afternoon. Robyn and Amalia stopped by for a quick visit to pick up the bag of plums Kristi picked for her.

Saturday morning we were up early by 6am. Still very smokey outside. We probably won't be outside too long today, as it really gets us both coughing.

The weather is changing next week so Ray and I started some outside chores before the rain begins. I harvested my tomatoes on the deck and emptied out the tomato plants. The pepper plants need a another couple of weeks before I pull them out. Planters on the lawn also emptied of plant material. Both Ray and I worked until noon and then spent the rest of the day inside due to the smoke. It was supposed to be a warm 27 C but it only came up to 20C with all of the smoke. It actually felt quite chilly after many days of warm weather.

Sunday woke up to another smokey morning that looks like fog. I don't expect to see the sun today either. Ray and I will still work on putting summer stuff away now that we are into the fall time of year. Ray took a bunch of yard waste to the dump in our new little trailer. Sure is nice to have it to use when you need it. 

It looked like that all day, no sunshine making it through. Even our neighbour put away all of their summer stuff on their dock including pulling their boat for the winter. Summer is done. :(

Got a message from Kat yesterday for "Grandparents day" with a picture of Stella. So cute.

Stella at 4 months

Monday morning still smokey. We did not get any rain that was advertised yesterday. The possibility of some rain has been downgraded significantly. This smoke certainly does not make you want to get outside!

I went to Duncan to pick up some stuff, while Ray worked on redoing more of the sundeck tiles our contractor $%^& up. Once I got back home it actually sprinkled with some rain. Kind of goes with the smokey skies. Worst day yet. More summer things brought inside.

I made a special ham and cheese sandwich for lunch called a Croque Monsieur, basically a very cheesy ham sandwich with a bechamel baked and then broiled in the oven. It was very tasty.

Weather outside still way too smokey so I spent the afternoon making 2 kinds of ravioli, some for dinner and the rest for the freezer. Italian sausage ravioli with my homemade marinara and meatballs and the second was chicken and 3 cheese ravioli with sage brown butter and walnuts. Both very tasty according to my chief taster who thoroughly enjoys his job. lol

Hopefully the skies clear soon as we would like to get out in the boat to fish.