From Winter to Summer ... April 1 - 16

Thursday, April 1st, not too much to report. lol Ray ran into Duncan for a few things and I finished up washing all the linens in the Motorhome getting it ready to use again next month. By late afternoon it started sprinkling out. I also busied myself making Beef Wellington with mushroom gravy and roasted cauliflower for dinner.  Ray's been in too much pain this past week, so kind of was off his food.  It's time to make a great dinner to encourage him to eat. It was a success!

Friday and Saturday was spent on a little of this and a little of that. lol Mostly laundry as all the bedding came out of the MH so I could wash it all after it spending a year in there without use.

I did a bunch of prepping for our smoked turkey dinner on Sunday. I find as I age, it is easier doing some of the work a couple days before, like the cranberry sauce and gravy as I roast turkey wings for stock so all I have to do is smoke the turkey, roast some vegetables and cook potatoes. Otherwise a quiet Easter Weekend for us.

Easter Sunday, turkey day, even if it is only for Ray and I. The sun has finally returned so it will be a nice day. Last year I smoked a turkey for Easter Dinner for our neighbours, all socially distanced as that was the beginning of this Covid 19 mess. Little did I know that we would all still be in the same position a year later, still socially distanced.

This year both neighbours have some of their family living with them so they are all celebrating at their own places. Roy and June have one daughter, son-in-law and 2 kids living with them since October as they sold their house and recently bought another one. All their kids work with them at their business so are all in their bubble. Cory brought his brand new trailer over for his family and they camped in June's driveway to try it out.  What a camping spot with a complete outdoor kitchen, and heaters. They also have a jungle gym playhouse and swing set for the kids.

Kids going for a short fishing trip. :) All those little ones lasted over half an hour. I was surprised. The whole family is mad for fishing.

Ray and I got the bat house installed so hopefully the bats use it this year when they come back and not try to get into our house again. The house has been totally sealed so that's their "eviction notice". lol

Ray got his "Klinker" all together with the new pontoons and motor installed ... ready for fishing. We launched it to make sure his new roller and winch system works for bringing it back up onto the dock. (not shown in the picture)

He still needs to put the extension on the control handle so he is not twisting so much. The new motor moves the boat along really well. The boat is certainly more stable with the pontoons. Now I don't have to worry about him falling out of the boat into the cold water.

Where you going Dad!

Yahoo ... it works.

Once I got the turkey on the Traeger to smoke, I finally moved all the linen back into the motorhome and put it away as well as organized a few cupboards.

The turkey cooked in 4 hours so we ate a little early. Easy dinner since I had made most of the sides in advance and just needed reheating. The turkey turned out beautiful and moist. Brining for 24 hours certainly does make a difference.

Quite the spread for 2 of us. lol We will be eating turkey for a few days.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE

Monday morning was beautiful so Ray finally was able to take the Klinker out for test fish even though it was quite cool out at about 1C this morning.

A quieter day today as I had cooked a lot over the past few days, it was a day off with leftovers. lol After finding my kitchen, after Ray went fishing we were able to sit down on the dock for awhile before the wind chased us up to the back yard. A lovely day.

Tuesday stayed foggy for quite a bit as Ray was busy securing things to his dinghy lol I worked on making things with the Easter Dinner leftovers. We had eaten it for 2 dinners and 2 lunches so it was time to process it into something else. lol  2 smoked turkey quiches, one large shepherds pie using the dressing for the crust with all the vegetables, turkey and a bit of cranberry sauce dumped together with gravy topped with mashed potatoes. I also put the bones on for turkey stock, soon to be soup. Otherwise a quiet day here at the lake.

Here is a picture our neighbour took of the moon coming up with our dock.

My daffodils are all up and the garden is looking great, especially with the driveway nice and clean after it was pressure washed.

Wednesday the forecasted rain came around noon. Not too much happening today. More puttering around for both of us. The time just seems to go. lol We ordered fish and chips for takeout from the Deep Fried Ice Cream place at the end of our road. I had heard that it was good and it did not disappoint.

Saw this guy trying to fish from his kayak when the storm blew in. He is going backwards trolling, being pushed by the wind and rain. lol

Thursday we ran up to Nanaimo for a few errands, takeout lunch and back home. Mary Brown's Chicken just opened. It was OK, kind of like KFC but without the spices. 

Friday, I headed into Duncan early to pick up my online grocery order at Walmart and had my pedicure. Back home by 11 before the rain really began. What a cold blustery day. Spent the afternoon cooking up a batch of meatballs, sauce for spaghetti for dinner. 

Saturday managed to get a walk in with Kristi up in Nanaimo, a beautiful day.

We got smiles on our phone. So cute. Amelia sure is growing fast.

Both Saturday and Sunday had very cold mornings and then a very cold wind all day. Nice to see the sun though. Here are some pictures of Stella, our other granddaughter, she is motoring around now on 2 legs. lol

Look I have 3 teeth!

New way of feeding herself breakfast. lol

Look mummy, no hands.

Where did it go!

Helping daddy in the garage.

Monday, another lovely day. We did manage to sit outside in the backyard for an hour out of the wind, but then it came up so much there was white caps on the lake! Ray and I made haste to get back into the house and watch the lake from inside. :)

Looks like we are going from winter to summer this week with the temps in the high teens. Great to see so much sunshine in the forecast. Definitely gardening weather. Ray has been busy staining my planters after sanding them this winter. Time to get my herb garden back up and running.

Tuesday, nothing much to report other than beautiful weather. 

Wednesday, I drove Ray to Victoria for his eye appointment we have been waiting for since last fall. Ray has black "floaties" in one of his eyes and this was finally an appointment to find out what they will do. He now is to have surgery to drain out the "bad liquid" and replace it. A few months after this surgery he will have to have cataract surgery on both of his eyes. He has been dealing with this "Asteroid Hyalosis" for several years now and it's getting worse affecting his peripheral vision. This is not a common condition and they really don't know what caused it but suspect High Blood Pressure.

On the way home we stopped at Bridgeman's Bistro in Mill Bay again for a takeout lunch. Sure enjoy their food. Back home I managed to sit down at the dock for awhile as it was 22C with only a slight breeze. Ray had to stay inside as his eyes could not stand the brightness after having dilation meds from his eye appointment.

Thursday another sunny warm day. Making smoked burnt end pork belly today on the Traeger. Yummm. Tempting to start hauling out more summer furniture but I'm sure this nice weather won't last and then everything will be back in spring rains. lol

Managed to buy a couple of tomato plants and pepper plants as well as my herbs. Was worried that if the Provincial Health Officer shuts more businesses down that I would have the same trouble purchasing stuff like I did last year. This is a start. 

Friday, Ray decided it was time to go fishing. The morning's temps are now warmer instead of frosty. First try in the boat with all of his modifications. Everything worked well ... until he ran out of gas. lol

Our new gardener showed up on the arranged day ... amazing, and thatched and mowed the lawn for the first time this year. Next week he will put some sand down and some more grass seed as well as weed and feed. There certainly was a lot of moss in the lawn.

Ray has been busy with the staining and planter production. :)

Don't they look beautiful. Matches the arbor perfectly.

That's our update for the past 2 weeks. Nothing too exciting. lol