The week of Thanksgiving Oct 6th - Oct 12

Tuesday morning woke up again to fog but decided to go fishing anyways for a couple of hours after the dogs were fed and walked. Absolutely flat calm and a little cool. Even though I saw lots of fish on the fish finder we were skunked again.

We spent the afternoon down at the dock again. It was really quite warm and we both had shorts on October 6th Wow. Afternoon nap for the dogs. lol

A little fuzzy picture. lol

Definitely take advantage of the last few days of summer-like weather.

Our gardener was here to prune the lavender hedge for the season. It sure grew fast and furious. Nice that my chosen plants have done well this year. We still have some more winter pruning to do, probably after the next series of rainstorms. Then I will plant my daffodil bulbs and move some plants that have crowded each other too much.

Our neighbours on the left of our house have decided to list their house. They own both lots so will build a new "retirement" house on the extra lot splitting the property into two. All of the outdoor buildings, shed, dining gazebo and outdoor kitchen, including their dock are all on the extra lot so they will not lose anything.  Should be interesting for them. Glad they are not actually leaving. :) Here are some drone pictures that they took for their listing that also show our house and location. At the moment we are lot #7 and their house is on lot #8 with lot #9 as their extra one close to the park. These pictures really show how close our houses are to each other but when you are in them we are all screened pretty well from our neighbours with the house placements on the lots.

Wednesday morning Ray headed up to Nanaimo to bring Kristi's dogs back home so they could go to doggie daycare. Kristi and Jason got back from their quick trip to Vancouver by early afternoon. I puttered around here and sat down at the dock for awhile enjoying the sunshine. One of our last late summer/fall days. I know it's changing now for sure as our maple tree has finally started turning it's leaves to red, starting at the top of the tree. lol

Thursday, the rain is a comin tonight! Ray buttoned down the boat, I brought up our chairs from the dock and covered the remaining deck furniture on the sundeck. Not sure if we are getting wind with this storm system or not. Next Ray and I pruned the remaining perennials in the front garden and moved a few plants to get more space. Nice to have that done before the rains begin.

By the afternoon I was looking for a recipe to cook up the sirloin beef roast I had taken out of the freezer ... dated March 28th, yup needs to go.I remembered I have a Moroccan tagine stuffed way back in the cupboard. Time to dig it out. lol Under that pile of vegetables is the beef chopped into cubes with spices. Now into the oven for 3 1/2 hours.

Turned out fabulous and was very tasty.

Friday it definitely rained all day becoming heavier overnight. Quite a blustery day. Since Saturday's forecast is better than Sunday's for less rain, I moved up turkey day to Saturday. I am going to smoke the turkey on the Traeger and less rain is better for running in and out of the house. lol

That meant a bunch of things need to be made today as I can't do everything on the same day as I used to including 2 trips to the local store for extra ingredients. lol I'm brining the turkey so it will stay moist. I made the same kind of turkey last Easter and it turned out fabulous. I was on the move from 9am to 3:30pm before I finally sat down for the day. Sure glad there were left-overs for dinner. 

Saturday, Turkey Day. The turkey was put on the Traeger by 10 am. Next up prep veggies and  then Pecan pie. Kristi and her dogs arrived around 10:30 and spent most of the day relaxing. Ray spent a bunch of time in his workshop. Although blustery all day, it was mostly sunny with cloudy periods.

(Notes to self for next year. 15 lb Turkey brined 24 hrs, On traeger slathered in butter under skin in tinfoil pan to smoke 3 hours at 225F. 4 more hours covered with tinfoil. Next time raise temp to 350F after covering with tinfoil so it does not take quite as long.)

Dinner was at 5:30 pm and everything turned out great, or so I'm told.

The Feast:

Definitely enough food to send a care package home with Kristi and left-overs for us for a few days. I see turkey sandwiches in our future. :)

Sunday morning it was actually not too bad outside. Kristi talked Ray into taking her fishing. 

Off they go with "Captain Kristi"!

Of course after 90 minutes the forecasted monsoon began and they came back drowned rats. lol I had hot chocolate waiting and a "Turkey Dinner Panini" ready for them. :) Recipe from Ree Drummond from Pioneer Woman noted for "Thanksgiving Dinner in a Panini". It was delicious. Of course mine was not as pretty as hers as my bread was too fresh. Noted for next time.

Photo from Food Network

Kristi headed home about 11:30 with lots of left-overs and her two dogs. The rain has began in earnest. So glad I cooked our turkey yesterday. :) A lazy afternoon for us.

Monday, Oct 12. Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family. The sun finally came out between storms, apparently we get another one tonight. Nice to see the sun again. Quiet day, Ray played in his shop and I played in my kitchen.